Honey, Honey
by nottheherb
Summary: All Kurt's worries from McKainely seemed to fade away under the protective walls of Dalton, new strong friendships, and the seemingly platonic love from one Blaine Anderson. Klaine and developing Niff so far. Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I'm Rosemarie, and the author of this fic.  
>Anyways, this is my first attempt at a fanfic. Yay! I'm not really sure where the idea came from, but here it is. It starts shortly after the "Special Education" episode of Glee, and kinda takes it's own path from thereon. <strong>

**Even though I imagine it should be pretty obvious, I feel I should state that I do not own Glee or any of the songs. Alas. **

**That being said, I hope you enjoy this fic! And please rate/review if you are so inclined!**

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><p>Even though it was weeks ago, Kurt was still scarred from Karofsky. Yes, Dalton made him feel safe, but every once in awhile he'd get that feeling again...that slight jolt every time he turned an empty corner, slightly flinching at a touch to the shoulder. But it was getting better.<p>

Especially with the help of music and friends.

...Well, that is, one friend in particular. The friend who helped him through it all, who wasn't afraid to confront Karofsky after he...you know. The friend who never ceased to amaze Kurt with his charisma and good nature.

The friend whose unbelievably attractive qualities have been quite distracting lately...

* * *

><p>Kurt got into the Warblers fairly easily, being the only countertenor they'd come across in a few years. The Warblers were great. Kurt easily spilled out his sob story of McKinley to them, and they really made him feel at ease.<p>

Now, Kurt Hummel loved Warblers practice. Hell, he loved singing in general. Especially along to his multiple Broadway soundtracks. But one thing the Warblers had that Broadway didn't. Yes, that one friend in particular:

Blaine Anderson.

From the moment Blaine awkwardly grabbed Kurt's hand and lead him through the hallway, Kurt could NOT get Blaine out of his mind. And yeah, that was probably expected. But at this moment, Kurt just couldn't stop staring at Blaine as he sang over all the other Warblers. Kurt was studying Blaine's features. Those eyes. That jet-black hair (which would probably look MUCH better when if it wasn't gelled down). Those perfect un-groomed eyebrows. And that smile...that smile that never ceased to bring tears of joy to Kurt's eyes. And the fact that Blaine was just _that much_ shorter than Kurt made him even more adorable. Kurt could just imagine Blaine standing ever so slightly on his toes to give him the _perfect kiss. _With_ tongue. And maybe he'd just bite slightly on the side of Kurt's lip. And kiss him down his neck, slowly and-_

_...Whoa. WHOA THERE,_ Kurt mentally interrupted his thoughts. _This is Warbler practice. Gotta tone it down a little._

But that proved nearly impossible as he watched Blaine sing. He sang with such emotion, and danced ever-so-swiftly, Kurt could barely stand it.

_...So, maybe I really like Blaine... _Kurt thought, giving into his wandering mind. _No, wait, I can't...Blaine is the first gay guy I've ever met, I can't let myself fall for him. Even though he's quite attractive, and nice. _

_And talented...charming...witty...probably a great kisser..._

"...-urt. Kurt. KURT!"

Kurt snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the voice that had been calling to him. It was David. Kurt just stared like a deer in the headlights, for everyone in the room was silent and staring at him. Suddenly, he got the frightening thought that he might have been thinking out loud.

"Are you back from outer space now, Kurt?" David asked, half-concerned, half-annoyed.

"Uhhh..." Kurt said, eloquently. For some reason, nothing was processing right now. All he could think of was Blaine. _Thanks, Blaine, thanks. _

"Dude, are you okay?" Asked Jeff.

"Yeah, really Kurt. You've been out of step through all the dances, and now you've totally missed your cue," Wes said. "Do you need to go to see Nurse Amy?"

"Uhhh..." Kurt said again. _Dances? What dances? I don't remember dancing...or missing a cue. Or HAVING a cue...Wait...What's a 'Nursamy...?'_

Blaine, looking overly concerned (_and adorable as ever_), stepped in front of the others inspect Kurt _(and yes, maybe Kurt got a little excited by the attention_.) He placed a cool hand on Kurt's forehead, the countertenor almost shivering at the touch. "Kurt, you do feel pretty warm...and you're sweating. Do you feel sick?"

Kurt was just about to say something, when Wes interjected."Oh Please, I think we _all _know what's going on, Hummel," he said with the most smug expression on his face.

Kurt's eyes widened at the thought that he'd been caught, when Blaine stepped over to Wes.

"Yes, I think we do. Kurt is clearly not feeling well and _delusional_, and all you can do is try to come up with cute euphemisms." _Yeah, go Blaine! Oh my God, Blaine is so cute when he's protective. _He stepped back over to Kurt. "Come on, do you need to go to the nurse?"

_Yes, my head kinda hurts. I've been feeling dizzy all day. Not to mention my stomach's in knots. And I'm pretty sure it's all your fault. But I'm fine. Besides, no one likes a drama queen. _

"No...I just have the most irritating headache," Kurt half-lied, giving Blaine a slight smile. "...Do any of you mind if I sit down and just watch the rest of rehearsal?"

Other than a few sighs, no one objected. As the Warblers formed into a huddle to discuss songs, Blaine walked Kurt over to the nearest armchair and sat him down.

"Are you _sure _you're okay?" Blaine asked, with the slightest bit of concern in his voice.

"I assure you, I'm fine Blaine," Kurt said.

Blaine gave a cute laugh and leaned down so that he was eye-level to Kurt. "If you say so," Blaine said with a smile. He placed a hand on Kurt's knee and gave a gentle squeeze before running back over to join the rest of the Warblers. Kurt propped his elbow up on the arm of the chair and rubbed his temple with his index and middle finger. He let his heavy eyelids close and was about to doze off into a Blaine-filled fantasy, when he was awoken by a chorus of:

_"NO. WAY."_

_"YES WAY!"_

_"Come on, all we ever do is top 40's! Can we at least give this a try?"_

_"I agree with Thad completely."_

_"But of COURSE you do, WES."_

_"I assure you I have no idea what you're insinuating."_

_"Whatever, we-"_

_"It's-"_

_"Just-"_

_"NO!"_

Blaine's obviously amused voice quiet the group down. _"Alright, alright! Come on you guys, let's just do it, mix it up a little. Justin-it's all you man."_

Kurt heard a base line that was quite unusual, even for the Warblers. He decided to open his eyes and see what was going down. The huddled circle of boys started nodding to the beat and gradually joining in. Finally, they started the beginning riff to the song and Blaine turned out from the rest of the group, facing Kurt.

**Honey honey, how he thrills me! Uh-huh, honey honey!**

_Typical. Thad's ABBA fetish must have taken over the entire council. _Not that Kurt had any problem with watching Blaine perform this song. A surprising step up from Amanda Seyfried, that's for sure.

**Honey honey, nearly KILLS me! Uh-huh, honey honey!**

_Blaine and his stupid theatrics. Why does he have to be so cute? And why does he just HAVE to always sing right to ME? _Kurt thought, though regretting nothing.

**I've heard about him before,**

Blaine made his way over to Kurt.

**I wanted to know some more,**

**And now I know what they mean, he's a LOVE MACHINE! OH, HE MAKES ME DIZZY!**

He sang straight into Kurt's face, never breaking his grin and swooning. Kurt couldn't help but blush. Blaine pulled Kurt up and started dancing around him, while Kurt added some harmonies where they were appropriate.

**Honey honey, let me FEEL it! Uh-huh, honey honey!**

The Warblers provided the perfect _"Ooooh, wha-wha-wha, wha-oooh'_s" to back Blaine up.

**Honey honey, don't conceal it! Uh-huh, honey honey!**

**The way that you kiss goodnight...**

Kurt backed him up with a smile. _**The way that you kiss me goodnight...**_

**The way that you hold me tight...**

Blaine hugged Kurt as tight as possible, which made Kurt giggle.

_**The way that you ho-old me tight...**_

_**I feel like I wanna sing when you do your...-**__Blaine cocked an eyebrow at Kurt -__**THING!**_

It was so hard for Kurt to keep a straight face with Blaine's theatrics.

_**Honey honey, TOUCH ME BABY! Uh-huh, honey honey! **__Blaine begged to a very red Kurt._

_**Honey honey, hold me baby! Uh-huh, honey honey! **_

_As if I don't want to, _Kurt thought.

**You look like a movie star...**

_**Look like a movie star...**_

**But I love just who you are...**

_**I love just who you are... **_

**Honey to say the least, you're a doggone- **Blaine turned to Kurt - **BEAST!**

Kurt laughed again and questioned lines. _Who writes songs with so many innuendoes?_

More of the Warblers joined in for the remainder of the song.

_**Honey honey, how you thrill me! Uh-huh, honey honey!**_

_**Honey honey, nearly kill me! Uh-huh, honey honey!**_

**...I heard about him before... **Blaine sang alone, walking slowly and gesturing to Kurt

**I wanted to know some more...**

**And now I'm about to see what you mean to me... **He ended in front of Kurt with a soft smile plastered on his face, batting his eyelashes.

As soon as Blaine finished, all of The Warblers were laughing at the dramatic theatrics and his emphasis on the innuendoes. 'Cause I mean, SERIOUSLY.

"You feel better Kurt?" Blaine smiled at Kurt, who just smiled and nodded. "See, music heals everything!" Blaine said as he patted Kurt on the back before going over to the rest of the Warblers.

But Kurt was lying. His smile melted off his face, because singing a song with Blaine about how well he kisses goodnight just put Kurt in even _more_ of a romantic delusion. He slumped back in his armchair and thought about Blaine some more. Where did he leave off? Oh right. _Blaine's probably the BEST kisser..._

* * *

><p>After rehearsal, Blaine gathered Kurt and they walked to the dorms together.<p>

"So, what do you think of ABBA?" Blaine asked Kurt while they were walking.

"Well, of course I've always loved Mamma Mia, the I can vaguely remember hearing ABBA play in my house when I was little. My mother loved them, always said how they had a song for almost anything..." Kurt drifted off.

He slowed to a stop in the middle of the courtyard, eyes looking straight at the ground, glossy with tears. He let out a breathy laugh and smiled. Blaine just stared, unsure what to do. He _wanted_ to hold Kurt. _Just to hold him and never have to let go. _But then Kurt spoke.

"I...I can't believe I remembered that just now...it was so long ago..." He choked out, though he was also laughing. _This was just not his day. First he totally embarrasses himself in front of the council, and now he cries in front of the boy he's almost sure he's in love with._

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and looked straight into his eyes. Kurt had the most perfect eyes. Clear, blue eyes. _And why did they have to be so fucking beautiful when Kurt cries? He's already beautiful enough when he's happy. But this...the glossy eyes COMBINED with the smile on his face..._Blaine shook the thought out of his head. _Not appropriate right now._

"Hey," he tried to lighten the mood, "look at this. An old memory of yours was revived by song. Music can do wonders. Imagine what else song and dance could do! Bring world peace even!" Kurt laughed at Blaine's comics and, still holding hands, they continued to walk to their dorms.

"So," Kurt broke the peace, "What do you think of ABBA? Or rather, Thad's definite obsession with them?"

"_Thad's _obsession with ABBA? Oh no, if you saw WES, now THAT'S obsession. God, on the bus ride to D.C. last year-"

"Wait wait,-D.C.?"

"We won the trip in an a capella competition. Anywa-"

"Did you sing for the President?"

"Yes. Bu-"

"Did you MEET the president?"

"KUUUUUUURRRRRT!" Blaine pouted as childishly as he could. It truly was adorable, and Kurt couldn't help but giggle. "May I continue my story now?" Blaine asked, with impatient puppy dog eyes. _Damn those puppy dog eyes..._

Kurt fake-sighed. "Fine."

"ANYWAYS, on the bus ride there, Wes practically begged if we could watch Mamma Mia_._ We saw no problem with it, and decided to give in," Blaine stopped in his tracks and gave Kurt a very serious look. "BIGGEST. MISTAKE. EVER. Singing to EVERY song, crying at 'The Winner Takes It All,' cursing at the fact that they cut out the scene with Sophie singing 'The Name Of The Game' to Bill." They started walking again. "I swear, if I didn't know him better, I'd think he was gay."

Kurt laughed, _again at yet another one of Blaine's jokes today._ "I wouldn't be surprised if he was," said Kurt. "Well, here's my stop," he pointed at the door to his dorm.

"Oh really?" Blaine replied, not-so-obviously trying to stall for more time with Kurt, just holding his hand outside of his dorm, talking and laughing. "I NEVER would have guessed."

Kurt scoffed and lightly punched Blaine in the arm. _He is so obnoxious. _ _Ugh, just look at that friggin' adorable smile of his. This boy makes it so hard to think straight. Aaaand there it goes, I'm being delusional again for this boy. I seriously need to get checked out, before I start seeing things. ...Waitaminute...did that plant just move? _

_No, seriously, that potted bush down the hall just moved. What the fu-_

"Oh hey, Kurt," Blaine started again, interrupting Kurt's inspection of the curious plant, "Um about today...are you sure you're feeling alright? You've been seeming pretty out of it for the past few days. Not to mention you were really burning up today. Well, not really but kinda. Like, not burning, but you were kinda warm. You know, to the point wh-"

"BLAINE," Kurt interrupted, "I'm totally FINE. Are you sure you're feeling okay? You seem awfully jumpy today for such a dapper young man," he said ever-so-smugly.

Blaine chuckled at this. "I'm totally fine, Kurt. More than fine, actually. In fact, I never want to leave this moment." _Just standing here, holding your hand, imagining that you're mine..._

"Oh?"

Blaine's eyebrows shot up. _Shit. It slipped out. Well, not the worst part, but still. _

"Uhhh...I mean that as in I...am just...rrrreally tired...don't wanna walk anymore. And I am...uhh...CONTENT, with just standing right here. Doing absolutely nothing but talking to you."

_Worst cover-up EVER, _Blaine thought. _Kurt's gonna be so creeped out by me. _Blaine was pretty sure his palms were sweating up, but Kurt still hadn't let go.

Kurt just rolled his eyes and laughed. "Speak for yourself Blaine. My head still kinda hurts, today was just tiring beyond belief, _I'd_ be content with falling asleep and never waking up!" _Please don't, _Blaine thought.

"...Or maybe I _would _wake up," Kurt continued, "But years later by true love's kiss. Just imagine how soft my skin would be after tha-"

Almost instinctively, Blaine reached his free hand up to Kurt's cheek and just stroked it. Only now did Blaine truly understand the passion in that one line from Romeo and Juliet. the one that Romeo says to himself about Juliet:

_See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!_

_O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek! _

_That beautiful cheek..._Blaine's breath caught in his throat.

Meanwhile, Kurt just froze at Blaine's touch, because, how the hell do you respond to something like that? They each had so much on their minds right now, you don't even know. Hell, THEY didn't even know. Thoughts were indistinguishable at this point. Blaine somehow seemed to keep his composure and a cool, calm face, while Kurt was almost certain his mouth was gaping. Blaine's hand slowly made its way down Kurt's chin and dropped.

"I dunno. I think your skin's perfectly soft," Blaine said with a sly smile.

After more than a few seconds of awkwardness, Blaine said, "Well, gotta go. Homework and, uh, and such. Bye!"

Blaine darted down the hall to his dorm as quickly as he could, leaving Kurt standing there, perfectly still. Kurt let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and reached his hand up to touch where Blaine had touched his cheek.

_And okay, SERIOUSLY, that potted bush is moving. Maybe I should...no...Whatever, I'm seeing things again... _

Kurt could still feel the ghost of Blaine's hand on his cheek, and imagined it enveloping his own. After a few moments of just standing there with a smile on his face (_probably looking like an idiot_), Kurt went into his dorm, selected the 'Hairspray' soundtrack on his iTunes, and switched to 'I Can Hear The Bells.' He started singing and dancing along, smiling and laughing at the relevance of this song.

Yes, this was probably the the happiest (and most confused) Kurt Hummel had been in his entire life.

...Well, so far.

* * *

><p>One of the many things both Kurt and Blaine didn't notice during this whole conversation was that they were being watched.<p>

"Hey, move over!" Wes exclaimed under his breath. "I can barely see!"

"How is that possible when YOU'RE the one with those rediculous opera glasses?" David whispered back.

"Will you stop bringing them up? They were a gift... Besides, they make it easier to zoom in and see what's REALLY goin' on."

"We look obvious as fuck."

"Get over it, no one's here!"

"Exactly. That just means we stand out more."

"Just shut up and spy."

Wesley Montgomery and David Thompson. Not exactly the most free-spirited when it came to show choir, but when it came to meddling and gossip, they were as eager as 12-year-old girls. They followed Kurt and Blaine out of rehearsal, and were now spying on them behind a potted bush in the hall.

"They're just talking and holding hands..." Wes observed.

"I can see that. WITHOUT opera glasses." David said, which resulted in a firm smack to the back of his head from Wes. "Ow! But seriously, do you see anything else?"

"H-hey," Wes started, responding to what he heard Blaine say, "I did NOT start crying during 'The Winner Takes It All!' And if I did, I had a very legitimate reason to, that is hands down the most touching part of the entire movie! And about that one scen-"

"SHHHH! Stop moving so much, Kurt keeps looking over here. And what are you blabbering on about?"

"The bus trip to D.C. last year...Mamma Mia..."

"Ohhh, you mean the most excruciating road trip of my LIFE? Ohmygod Wes, if I didn't know you any better, I'd think you were gay." Wes gave David a dramatic gasp, who just rolled his eyes at this. "Ugh, just tell me what else you see over there, I can't see very clearly that far away."

"Ha!" Wes quietly exclaimed, "NOW my opera glasses aren't such a bad idea, huh Dave?" David shot him a glare. Wes cowered back and looked over to the boys.

"Well..." Wes surveyed their persons. "They're still holding hands..."

"Still? Wow. Weird. You know, now that I think about what Thad said before...when he kinda hinted at Kurt looking at Blaine all the time...he totally likes him. Ovbiously. But I don't know about Blaine. It's rea-"

"OHMYGOSH HE TOUCHED HIS FACE, HE TOUCHED HIS FACE, BLAINE ANDERSON HAS HIS HAND STROKING KURT ON THE CHEEK, I REPEAT, BLAINE MOTHERFUCKING ANDERSON HAS HIS HAND ON KU-"

"WHAT?" David snatched the glasses from Wes. "OHMYGOD..."

"I KNOW RIGHT?"

"This is like in those romantic movies where he strokes her cheek and they both lean in for a BIG WET ONE."

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, ki-...WHAT. No, Blaine, don't walk away, no, BLAINE, YOU HAVE TO KISS KURT!" Wes looked more disappointed and shocked than he had ever been in his entire life.

"What. The actual. FUCK." Wes almost projected across the hall. David shushed him and then started smiling.

"SHHHH! They'll hear you!" David looked back over to Blaine, who was darting down the hall. "...Hey Wes, look at Blaine. Seriously, look at him walk. Look at his face, his posture, his...you know...PANTS." David and Wes both looked at each other with the same smug expression on their faces.

"Blaine TOTALLY-"

"And the way he sings to him-"

"He STROKED his CHEEK-"

At this point, Blaine was out of sight, Kurt was in his dorm, and Wes and David were squealing like no tomorrow.

"Oh my GOD," Wes laughed.

"We should talk to Blaine right now, try to pry something out. We have to get them together, whether they actually like each other or not."

"Definitely. Start thinking of plans."

"Way ahead of you," David said as he pulled out his little notebook and pen. "You know, this is going to be hard."

"Ha, not as hard as Blaine's cock is right now."

David started laughing with Wes, only able to force out, "Not...appropriate, Wes. Not at ALL," between laughs.

"What? You know it's true! YOU saw."

"Yeah. Maybe we should talk to Blaine some other time. I'll bet he's MUCH too occupied right now."

The two high-fived and laughed until their mouths hurt, and went back to their dorm to jot down ideas. _Operation Klaine was officially in progress._

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><p>Blaine rushed to his dorm, kicked his shoes off, pulled off his blazer, loosened his tie, and fell onto his bed. Ever since he saw Kurt on that staircase when he "spied" on the Warblers, Blaine couldn't get Kurt out of his head. His fair skin, his delicate features, and his <em>voice<em>...

But right now, Blaine was mentally slapping himself for what just happened in the hallway.

_What was I thinking? Oh right, I WASN'T. _ _After all that Kurt's been through, I shouldn't touch him like that! He's still healing, and I practically molested his cheek! Way to be Blaine, WAY TO BE. _

Blaine buried his face in his hands and took deep breaths.

_Who am I kidding? This is Kurt friggin' Hummel. He's insanely adorable, has the voice of an ANGEL, the best sense of fashion, and has had a crush on the captain AND the quarterback of the football team._

_I, on the other hand, look like a Hobbit...I know my voice is more than satisfactory, but I'll NEVER be anything to DO with the football team. Not to mention he was a cheerleader. _

_...I feel like a pre-teen girl gushing over...well, a guy. And really cute guy. Really talented guy. Really great guy..._

_Ugh...this is the most confusing crush I've ever had. _

_...It's just a crush, right? Cuz, I mean, he'd never like me back...so I'd probably just end up getting hurt. _

_Again._

Blaine shook the developing thought of his ex out of his head.

_Shit...I need some music._

Blaine went over to his iTunes and skipped through a bunch of songs -Falling For You, Use Somebody, Is This Love, The Only Exception, and a bunch of Beatles songs- until he got frustrated, closed his laptop screen, and lay back down on his bed.

_What the hell is going on..._


	2. Chapter 2

**So basically, it's about two in the morning, I'm bored, I've been writing this fic inconsistently for about a month, so I figured I might as well upload a few chapters all at once, in case anyone out there is actually reading it '~' **

**Now without further ado, here is chapter two WOOO~ ****Hope you guys like it! **

**I do not own Glee or any songs sung, btw. **

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><p>Kurt was sitting in the commons during his study hall period. Even though he most definitely wasn't studying. It was a few days after the cheek stroking incident, and even though Kurt didn't show it, he was completely stunned by the whole thing. And he decided that maybe he<em> might<em> kinda sorta really like Blaine_...a little_.

He was interrupted from his failed attempt at studying in the commons by two identical voices behind him.

_"Pretending to study, huh Kurt?"_

_"Good riddance! Not like you're gonna use Pre-Calc later in life!"_

It was Greg and Matt.

The Weasleys.

Gregory and Matthew Fredericks were exceptionally attractive twins who, for their faded red hair, were nicknamed The Weasleys. Their impish faces matched their mischevous personality, and they were so alike Fred and George Weasley, it was uncanny. They did everything together: track, football, Warblers. They were actually quite adorable.

...As well and intrusive...

"Uh, yeah. I mean...no. I mean...I guess I was just spacing a little," Kurt replied.

"Evidently," they replied in unison. Kurt always thought it was kinda creepy when they did that.

They each pulled up a chair, put their elbows on the table and set their chins on their hands as they talked to Kurt with mockingly-dreamy smiles.

"So, what are you daydreaming about?"

"Or rather...who?"

Even though Greg had a small freckle on his right cheek to distinguish the two apart, they talked so fast sometimes, Kurt hadn't a single clue who just said what. He couldn't understand how everyone else handled them all the time.

"Uhhh, nothing. And...no one. And is it really any of your buisiness?" Kurt asked as he packed up his books. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than check up on me?"

"Nope," they answered.

"You've just been acting so strange lately-" Matt started.

"-Especially since a few days ago-" Greg continued.

"-When you totally freaked us all out with your zombie stare at Blaine in rehearsal-"

"-We just wanted to make sure the studying wasn't going to your head."

"And then we find you here-"

"-Trying to read a math book."

Kurt looked at the two in question. _And your point is?_

Matt gestured to the window. "Have you seen the dim Late-November-in-Ohio sun at all in the past few days?"

Greg nodded in agreement. "Really Kurt, you're looking dangerously pale."

"And that's coming from _us_," The two gingers said in unison.

Kurt, entertained yet annoyed, got up to walk over to the library, only to be followed by the Weasleys. "Matt, Greg, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I'm...just, really nervous for finals, that's all," Kurt lied.

"But they're like, a month away!" Greg whined.

"Yeah, come ON, Kurt!" Matt agreed, "Don't you wanna do something FUN for a change?"

"With us?"

"No," Kurt stated simply, "I'm perfectly fine doing what I am doing."

"Which is?" One (if not both) of the Weasleys said.

Kurt stopped in his tracks, unable to find a valid answer. The twins smiled at this. "Come on Kurt!" Greg said, grabbing his hand and leading him down a different hall. "We're gonna show you all the school secrets!"

Matt grabbed Kurt's other hand and gestured down the hall. "So, the student lounge at the south end of the dorms is usually pretty boring...unless you can climb up into the attic!"

"The secret staircase is in the back of the broom closet, not too hard to find."

"Only took us a few months."

"Plus a few days to figure out how to pick the lock."

Kurt looked back and forth between the two, both concerned and awed at their mischevous hobbies around the school.

"The attic's alright. Filled with old paintings and stuff," one of the twins continued, "But the best part is messing with the electrical box in the far right cor-"

"-Yeah, that's all in good fun boys, but...I think I'm just gonna sit down and read," Kurt cut him off, not wanting to get into any trouble. He turned away from the twins and headed back towards the library, only to be turned around again.

"Ku-u-urt!" Matt protested, "Come on! Live a little!"

"Yeah!" Greg urged, "You really have so much to learn, Kurt. There's so much more in this school to see than books!"

"And we can show it all to you!"

Greg put his arm around a very irritated Kurt and gestured outwards as he sang.

**"WE CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!"**

"I don't wanna see it..." Kurt grumbled.

Matt joined in with the theatrics. **"SHINING, SHIMMERING, SPLENDID!"**

**"TELL US PRINCESS, NOW WHEN DID YOU LAST LET YOUR HEART DECIDE?"**

Kurt looked around awkwardly as students were looking on in speculation.

**"WE CAN OPEN YOUR EYES! TAKE YOU WONDER BY WONDER!"**

**"OVER SIDEWAYS AND UNDER ON A MAGIC CARPET RIDE!"**

Kurt, rolling his eyes, finally peeled away from the boys and started his way to the dorms, only to have the twins follow him the entire way.

**"A WHOLE NEW WOOOOOORLD!"**

_Loudly._

**"A NEW FANTASTIC POINT OF VIEW!"**

**"NO ONE TO TELL US NO-"**

**"-OR WHERE TO GO-"**

**"-OR SAY WE'RE ONLY DREAMING!"**

The twins split parts, Greg being Aladdin and Matt taking Jasmine. Though they were uttery obnoxious, Kurt had to admit the two could hold a surprisingly exceptional harmony.

**"A WHOLE NEW WORLD! A DAZZLING PLACE YOU NEVER KNEW! BUT WHEN YOU'RE WAY UP HERE, IT'S CRYSTAL CLEAR, THAT NOW WE'RE IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD WITH YOU..."**

**"NOW WE'RE IN A WHOLE NEW WO-ORLD WITH -"**

**"UNBELIEVABLE SIGHTS! INDESCRIBABLE FEELING! SOARING, TUMBLING, FREEWHEELING, THROUGH AN ENDLESS DIAMOND SKY! A WHOLE NEW WORRRLD-"**

**"-DON'T YOU DARE CLOSE YOUR EYES!"**

**"A HUNDRED THOUSAND THINGS TO SEE!"**

**"-HOLD YOUR BREATH IT GETS BETTER!"**

Matt kneeled down in front of Kurt and clutched the bottom of his blazer, stopping him in his tracks. **"YOU'RE LIKE A SHOOTING STAR, YOU'VE COME SO FAR, YOU CAN'T GO BACK TO WHERE YOU USED TO BE-"**

**"A WHOLE NEW WORLD-" **

Kurt barely held his straight face as he pushed Matt out of the way and proceeded to walk to his dorm.

**"EVERY TURN A SURPRISE!" **

**"WITH NEW HORIZONS TO PURSUE!"**

**"-AND EVERY MOMENT RED LETTER!"**

Now both of the twins sang, and with very exceptional harmonies.

**"WE'LL CHASE THEM ANYWHERE, THERE'S TIME TO SPARE! LET US SHARE THIS WHOLE NEW WORLD WITH YOU..."**

**"A WHOLE NEW WORLD..." **

Greg went behind Kurt's right shoulder and gestured for him to take Jasmine's response. He rolled his eyes and laughed, and finally gave in.

_**"A whole new world..."**_

Matt went to Kurt's other shoulder and sang Aladdin's part as well.

**"THAT'S WHERE WE'LL BE..."**

_**"That's where we'll be..."**_

**"A THRILLING CHASE..."**

_**"A wondrous place..."**_

_**"FOR YOU AND ME!" **_All the boys chorused, arms around each other's shoulders.

The boys all laughed as they finish the song. Kurt continued to make his way into the dorm building, the twins on his heels.

"Sooo Kurt, whaddaya think?" Greg asked, jumping up and down.

"Can we show you around now?" Matt imitated his twin.

"Please! Pretty please!"

The twins continued to beg Kurt for a good ten seconds, before Kurt briefly turned around at them, still laughing.

"You guys, you guys! Alright! Maybe sometime you two can teach me about the "_Wonders of Dalton,_"but for right now I'm going to lie down and wait for Blaine to take me to rehearsal."

The twins gave a slight gasp, looked at each other in curiosity, then turned back to Kurt.

"Alright...then we should probably let you be, for now," Matt said with a coy smile.

"Yes," Greg continued, mirroring Matt's expression. "You're probably quite egar for Blaine to..._take you._" He emphasized on the last two words.

"To rehearsal, that is," Matt said after a totally staged short silence.

The twins winked in unison before saying, "See you in Glee Club!" And just like that, they had disappeared down the hall to become someone else's problem.

Kurt rolled his eyes as he entered his dorm and sat on his bed. His clock read 3:21, which meant nine minutes until rehearsal started, and only three until Blaine came to pick him up. Kurt didn't know which was sadder, the fact that he knew that by heart, or the fact that he started counting the minutes from then on. If you asked him right then what he was thinking about, he couldn't tell you one bit. Though, he could tell you _who _he was most likely thinking about..._Blaine_.

After staring at the wall for a bit, Kurt decided to check his clock once again. The minutes went by rather quickly, because before he knew it, his clock read 3:27.

...And Blaine hadn't showed.

Confused and slightly mad, Kurt decided he should probably go pick Blaine up. He walked up the hall to Blaine's dorm, and heard clattering and swearing through the thin wall.

"Blaine!" Kurt called through Blaine's door, his voice a mixture of amusement and irritation. "Blaine, we're going to be late for rehearsal, and you know how much I HATE to be late!"

Hearing no response, Kurt rapped on Blaine's door and shouted again. "Blaine! What's taking so long?"

"Sorry Kurt! I'm running a little late today!"

"Oh really? I never would have guessed."

"Just shut up and help me in here."

_Help? _Confused, Kurt walked into Blaine's room, and was shocked by how untidy it was. "...What do you need help wi-"

Blaine walked out of his bathroom, ready to go, as usual. Except one thing wasn't normal.

_His hair wasn't gelled down. Those black curls were set free._

"Uhhh...what's th-" Kurt started.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Kurt, but after P.E. I took a shower and now I can't find my hair gel. I've looked everywhere! I don't know how you can lose a bottle of hair gel in your own dorm!"

Kurt just stared at Blaine's untidy black curls. He'd always imagined Blaine's hair would look better when it wasn't enclosed in a thick casing of gel, but..._wow. _This was unbelievably HOT. Kurt couldn't help himself from thinking how it would feel to run his fingers through Blaine's locks...

"KURT! A LITTLE HELP PLEASE?" Blaine was freaking out more than necessary. Kurt eased his thought out of his head.

He nodded and helped Blaine look for his bottle of hair gel, and not after long he found the bottle of product tangled in one of Blaine's sheets. Kurt looked at it for a moment, then tossed the hair gel in his bag.

_Devil's spawn, that hair gel._

"Uh, Blaine," Kurt said, barely holding back a mischevous smile. "I, uh, I can't find it anywhere. Come on, let's just go to rehearsal."

"No, I can't go out there in front of all the guys looking like a clown!" Blaine was pouting like a child. _He must've gotten a whole lot of shit in the past for his hair, _Kurt wondered. He decided not to ask at this time.

"Blaine. BLAINE," Kurt grabbed Blaine by the shoulders and shook him back into reality. "You look _fine._ Better, even. In fact, I think you should wear your hair like this all the time. It looks...really hot."

Both Blaine and Kurt felt butterflies in their chests.

_OMG, Kurt just called me hot._

_WTF, did I seriously just call Blaine hot?_

"Uh...Really? You think so?"

"Yes. I really do. You'll get lots of guys chasing after you if you wear your hair like this," Kurt said with a laugh to mask his embarassment.

_Lots? I really only want one guy to chase after me..._

Kurt walked up to Blaine and eyed his hair. He reached his fingers up towards Blaine's head before asking, "May I...?"

Blaine nodded a little too quickly, but forgot his slight embarrassment when Kurt reached out to weave and tangle his fingers through Blaine's hair. Blaine was mesmerized by the touch. Kurt's soft fingers against Blaine's skin just...did something to him. His jaw dropped, his eyelids became heavy. _"Kurt..."_ he practically moaned out. It would've been embarrassing, had Kurt noticed. But he was too busy gushing over Blaine's soft locks.

"...Yes?"

Blaine came back to real life. "Uhhh...whaaa-OH! Shit! Look at the time! We are going to be SO late if we don't leave right now!"

Kurt glanced at the clock and saw that Blaine was right. 3:36. They were already six minutes late. "Crap! Come on Blaine!" Kurt grabbed his hand and they ran to rehearsal. They were the last ones in, and all eyes were on the two's clasped hands. They released quickly, before Wes and David walked over to the two. Wes and David each cocked an eyebrow at each other, then looked at Kurt and Blaine. The Weasleys couldn't stop winking and giggling at Kurt, who shot them a look before addressing David.

"We're so s-" Kurt began.

"It's fine Kurt, Blaine. We were just beginning to get worried," David said with a smile.

"Anyways," Wes said, "with the surprising success of 'Honey, Honey' last week, we decided to try out this little number by ABBA." He handed both Kurt and Blaine highlighted sheet music. Kurt was the first to say something.

"Really, Wes? Another Mamma Mianumber?"

"David and I thought it would just be fun to experiment with some new material this next week or so. Like, Kurt, in New Directions you'd often have an assignment of the week, right? Like a theme to stick to and show your talents with that song. We thought maybe we'd take song suggestions and ask elected members to sing them."

"So, I'm guessing this week's assignment is ABBA?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, that it is." answered David.

"Who suggested this song?"

"That would be me."

"...And who elected me and Blaine to sing it?"

"That would be Wes."

Wes couldn't help but giggle at their plan so far. It was PERFECT. David seemed to keep a straight face, until Wes leaned into him and whispered, "_Blaine has sex hair." _David giggled along with Wes at Blaine's un-gelled locks, which really didn't look bad, but...the irony of the "sex hair" was just too much. Nick and Jeff skeptically looked at the two council members, then gave each other a, _"Wes and David have another GENIUS plan in order, hide your children," _look.

It was silent and awkward, until Blaine threw his sheet music over his head and said with a sigh and a smile, "Alright, let's get this over with. Hey, yo! Lay it down."

A Warbler in the back started the base background and the other Warblers soon joined in with backup vocals. Blaine straighted his tie as he slowly made his way over to a wide-eyed Kurt.

**I wasn't jealous before we met,**

**Now every man that I see is a potential threat. **

Blaine made a point of theatrically almost punching Wes in the face, who just winked at him.

**And I'm possessive, it isn't nice. **

He grabbed Kurt by the arms and looked him straight in the eyes.

**You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice. **

Laying one arm across Kurt's shoulder, Blaine tried (and succeeded) to look all sexy pretending to smoke a cigerette with his free hand.

**But now it isn't true... **

He turned back to Kurt, with pleading eyes.

**Now everything is new...**

**And all I've learned has overturned,**

**I beg of you!**

Now Blaine was on his knees in front of a surprisingly cool Kurt, begging up to him.

**Don't go wasting your emotion!**

**Lay all your love on me!**

Blaine stood straight and backed up, looking at Kurt with a competitive smirk, and gestured for a reply (obviously forgetting Kurt's knack for theatricality). Kurt shot him a _'bring it' _look, threw his music over his head and sang:

_**It was like shooting a sitting duck **_

Kurt seductively acted as if he'd been shot, then fell into a catwalk towards Blaine, just like Amanda Seyfried did in the movie. Only...he was _waaay hotter, _Blaine 's jaw dropped in surprise. _Kurt, acting sexy? _

_**A little small talk, a smile and baby I was stuck...**_

_Not just sexy...fucking seductive...he's so hot when he catwalks... _Blaine thought, _completely_ mesmerized. Wes and David were looking happily back and forth between the two, surprised at how well this was going.

_**I still don't know what you've done with me,**_

He'd crawled to Blaine's feet and looked up at him with almost-pathetic-but-still-really-sexy-looking eyes.

_**A grown-up woman should never fall so easily... **_

Kurt stood and grabbed Blaine's shoulders and sang to him straight up in his face.

_**I feel a kind of fear **_

_**When I don't have you near...**_

Kurt slowly leaned in to Blaine and moved his hands down Blaine's arms to latch onto his elbows.

_**Unsatisfied, **_

_**I skip my pride, **_

_**I beg you dear! **_

Kurt leaned in WAY too close to Blaine's face and grabbed his un-gelled hair, acting as if he was about to give Blaine a passionate kiss (which Blaine was totally about to give into), only to pull away, letting gravity drift his hands off Blaine's head.

_**Don't go wasting your emotion! **_

Kurt sang to Blaine, walking backwards and returning that smirk Blaine gave him earlier.

_**Lay all your love on me!**_

All the completely entertained Warblers sang now, circling around the duo.

**Don't go sharing your devotions,**

**Lay all your love on me!**

They all backed off to let Kurt do his solo.

_**I've had a few little love affairs, **_He sang with a shrug, pretending to check his nails._** They didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce.**_

**I used to think that was sensible, **Blaine sang, imitating Kurt's shrug. **It makes the truth even more incomprehensible.**

_**'Cause everything is new...**_

They sang in sync, moving closer and closer together.

_**And everything is you... **_

_**And all I've learned**_

_**Has overturned,**_

_**What can I do? **_

They sang right to one another, game faces totally rubbed off. The slight silence between this line and the next seemed like forever.

_I could kiss him, _Blaine thought in this split second between the verses. _If I reeeeally wanted to, I could do it right now, and just say it was part of the song. They kiss kinda at the end...right? Then again, they were engaged...Not to mention, I don't want to hurt him...with all that's happened...but that doesn't mean I can't still think about kissing him...right?_

_Blaine, _Kurt thought at the same time, _just take me now. Take me into your arms and don't ever let go. How can I lay all my love on you when you won't let me? I only wish you knew that every word I've just sung, I meant. _

Despite their deep thoughts, neither boy missed their next cue.

_**Don't go wasting your emotion!**_

_**Lay all your love on me!**_

_**Don't go sharing your devotion!**_

_**Lay all your love on me!**_

_**Don't go wasting your emotion!**_

_**Lay all your love on me!**_

_**Don't go sharing your devotion!**_

_**Lay all your love on me!**_

At first it was awkwardly silent (mainly for the reason that the boys were still standing face to face, with barely five inches of breathing room). But then an adorable smile grew on Blaine's face, and he started giggling. Before they knew it, both boys were both laughing heartily, hugging and criticizing one another's performance methods, when they both knew they had never been more turned on by singing a duet in their entire LIVES.

Meanwhile, Wes and David low-fived, never feeling more accomplished in their entire lives.

...While the rest of the Warblers had never been more confused in _their _entire lives.

* * *

><p>"Hey Kurt?" Blaine asked, looking up from his notebook.<p>

The two boys were doing homework, as they often did together, after Warbler rehearsal that very same day. Right now they were both on their French homework. Blaine was thankful for having Kurt to study with, since he was practically fluent in said language. "How do you pronounce 'happily' in French?" Blaine asked.

Kurt looked up from his own homework and answered Blaine with a smile. "Heureusement."

"...Heureusement?" Blaine asked hesitantly, pronounciation _way_ off the charts.

Kurt laughed. "No, not quite. The 'H' is completely silent. And so is the 'T'. And you have to let it slide more. Think of it like 'Euh-res-monh'."

_"...Heureusement?" _Blaine tried again, better this time.

Kurt nodded. "Better. You're almost there."

Blaine gave Kurt a thankful grin and looked back down to his homework. Kurt resumed his work as well.

"...Could you say it _one _more time?"

Kurt looked up at a hopeful-looking Blaine. He gave a confused smile and said, "_Heureusement_...?"

Blaine gave a small laugh. "How do you make it sound so pretty?"

Kurt shrugged. "It's a pretty word. And a pretty language."

Blaine shook his head. "No...you do something else to it..."

Kurt blushed a little at this hidden compliment. "Well, now that you know the word, maybe we should continue our work." He looked back down at his textbook, and Blaine proceeded to write down some stuff in his notebook before he looked up again.

"Can you sing something in French?"

Kurt looked back up to Blaine, eyes wide. "Uhhh...how is that relevant?"

Blaine shrugged with a smile. "You speak French beautifully, I can just imagine when you SING it...well..."

His voice trailed off, suddenly feeling a little embarassed. Both boys dropped their heads back down into their books. There was an awkward pause until Kurt began to sing.

_**Des yeux qui font baiser les miens...**_

Blaine looked up, smiling. Kurt singing in French was even more beautiful than Blaine had ever expected.

_**Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche...**_

_**Voila le portrait sans retouche...**_

_**De l'homme auquel j'appartiens...**_

Kurt finally looked up to see Blaine's dreamy smile. He instantly blushed and started shuffling his papers around. "We should...we should do our h-"

"Please don't stop there," Blaine pleaded to Kurt. "That was beautiful."

Kurt was sure he blushed even more. He looked a little hesitant before cocking an eyebrow and turning to an overly-eager Blaine. He moved a little closer to the boy and sang to him, looking him straight in the eyes.

_**Quand il me prend dans ses bras,**_

_**ll me parle tout bas,**_

_**Je vois la vie en rose.**_

_**ll me dit des mots d'amour,**_

_**Des mots de tous les jours,**_

_**Et ca m'a fait quelque chose.**_

Kurt sang very playfully, looking at Blaine the whole time, who was completely enveloped in the performance. Even though Blaine couldn't translate most of the words Kurt sang, from the emotion Kurt put into it, he could tell it was a love song. The way the words just flowed out of Kurt's lips, his delicate yet strong voice, his adorable shrugs and gestures...it was truly beautiful.

_**ll est entre dans mon coeur,**_

_**Une part de bonheur,**_

_**Dont je connais la cause,**_

Blaine was sure his heart stopped as Kurt reached the high notes.

_**C'est lui par moi**_

_**Moi par lui dans la vie!**_

_**ll me I'a dit**_

_**I'a jure pour la vie...**_

_**Et des que je I'apercois,**_

_**Alors je sens en moi**_

_**Mon coeur qui bat.**_

When the song came to a close, the last note seemed to delicately trinkle off, which gave Blaine shivers. He grinned broadly at the countertenor. "Kurt, that was _amazing._"

Kurt thuroughly blushed once again. He could feel something between him and Blaine. The way Blaine looked at him, the way he _sang _to him...could it really be...? Kurt was deep in this wishful thinking when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Rachel. He furrowed his brow slightly and answered the call.

"...Rachel?"

_"Hi Kurt!"_

"Hel-"

_"SO," _Rachel interrupted, _"I was wondering if you would be able to come to our 'All Star' benefit concert! It's at six pm tomorrow evening and admission is $4 for students."_

"Wha-"

_"It's to help raise money so we can buy Christmas gifts for the sick children at the hospital this year. Will you come? And bring as many friends as you like!"_

"Uhhh. Hang on a sec, Rachel."

Kurt put his hand over the phone and looked to Blaine. "Do you wanna come with me tomorrow to my old Glee Club's concert tomorrow night?"

Blaine smiled. "Sure."

Kurt smiled back before speaking back into the phone. "Sure, Rachel. We'll be there."

_"Who's 'we'?"_

"Me and my friend Blaine."

_*Gasp* "Is he that cute gay guy you like?"_

Kurt's eyes widened. Mercedes and Rachel must have become pretty good friends over time. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Rachel," he said in monotone.

_"But wh-" _

Kurt hung up before she could blurt out another one of Kurt's secrets she'd heard from Mercedes. He was gonna have a talk with that girl. "We should probably finish our homework," Kurt said.

Blaine gave a dramatic pout. "Aw, do we _have _to? Can't you just sing to me again?" He said, sporting those big puppy dog eyes of his.

Kurt blushed and, not knowing what to do next, grabbed with the nearest piillow and proceeded to hit Blaine with it. Blaine hit him back, and soon the boys were engulfed in a pillow fight, chasing each other around the room and laughing their hearts out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Matt and Greg Fredericks are based off twins that go to my school. They're gingers, and uncannily similar to our dear Fred and George, especially when it comes to pranks and such. So we call them the Weasleys. I'm sorry if this bothers you, for some reason or another, but there you have it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**WOOO CHAPTER THREE. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! By the way, this part gets...sad? Angsty? Whatever you wanna call it, just don't expect all fluff and bunnies. Something happens that brings up some stuff from Blaine's past, resulting in...well, you'll see. **

**:( I know, I hate seeing our bbys sad too. But it'll all work out ****in the end. **

**Anyways, onto the fic. And no, I don't own Glee or any songs, blah blah blah.**

* * *

><p>The following evening, Kurt and Blaine found themselves in the parking lot of McKinley High in Lima, Ohio. Blaine opened the door on the passenger side of his 1973 Baby Blue Volkswagen Bug, and helped Kurt out into the cool, early December air. The sky was becoming dark, which contrasted with the streetlights that illuminated the parking lot. Kurt looked up longingly at his old school so deep in thought, that he almost jumped when Blaine rested his hand on the taller boy's shoulder.<p>

"You really miss this place, don't you?"

Kurt looked at his feet sadly. "I know that people hurt me here, and...I know that it was dangerous for me, but..." he looked back up at the building, "my best friends are here. Not that I regret meeting you, Blaine. Or any of the guys at Dalton," he said quickly, "it's just...I just really..."

"I know," Blaine said, with an understanding smile. Kurt returned the smile as Blaine laced their fingers together. Kurt seemed scared, yet eager at the same time, to see his old school again. It felt like...coming home.

They arrived a good 30 minutes early, so Kurt gave Blaine a brief tour of his old school. When they reached the choir room, Kurt's face brightened up so much and so quickly, Blaine was afraid it might have been an expression of fear. Then he looked into the room to see exactly why Kurt looked as if he's just been given a new wardrobe.

All of New Directions was there in the choir room, getting a pep talk from Mr. Schue. At the sight of Kurt, all the girls screamed and ran over to him, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. The guys also got up and walked over, patting Kurt on the back and offering to bump fists, to which Kurt gave them a slight "_What Kind Of Animal Do You Think I Am" _look, before submitting and returning the gesture.

Mr. Schuester walked over and gave Kurt a gentle hug, laughing. "Kurt! Haha how have you been?"

"I've been great, Mr. Schue," Kurt beamed up at his favorite teacher.

Blaine kept his eyes on Kurt, smiling. He seemed hesitant when he and Blaine approached the school, but Kurt wasn't scared around these guys. In fact, this was probably the happiest Blaine's ever seen him.

Mr. Schue looked past Kurt over to the door, and spotted Blaine, who gave him a humble wave. "...Who's that?" He asked, pointing to said boy. He cocked an eyebrow to Kurt and lowered his voice. "Someone special?"

Mercedes snorted and Kurt shot her a look. He gestured Blaine to come over and join him. "Everybody, meet my very good _friend_, Blaine."

Blaine waved at them all, and shook some of their hands, introducing himself. Kurt looked around the room. Mercedes and Rachel were whispering to the other girls and giggling, Blaine seemed to hit it off rather well with Mike and Puck, Sam and Artie were in their own little world, and Finn was looking quite skeptical at Kurt and his new _friend._ He caught Kurt's eye and looked like he was about to mouth something, when Kurt shot him a glare and put his hand up in warning. Finn sank into his chair, raising his hands in defeat.

After a good 10 minutes of catching up, Mr. Schue said they should probably get backstage. Blaine and Kurt waved goodbye, and made their way to the front entrance to the auditorium. Blaine could tell Kurt was disappointed, and reached down to clasp his hand.

"Hey," Blaine said, stopping in the hall to turn to Kurt. "I'm really sorry you're sad. I know they're your best friends."

Kurt just looked to his side and shrugged. Blaine gave him a little smile. "We can go hang out with them for a little while after the concert, if you want to."

Kurt turned to look at Blaine, smile already developing on his face. "A-are you sure?"

Blaine shook his head and gave a little laugh. "Why not? It's Saturday night and it's not like we have anything else to do."

Kurt grinned as he pulled Blaine into a tight hug, surprising the smaller boy. He pulled away after a few seconds to look Blaine straight in the eyes. "You're too nice to me, Blaine. Seriously, you're probably the most considerate friend I've ever had."

Blaine smiled at the beautifully happy boy in front of him. "You deserve it, Kurt."

The two boys walked off to the auditorium, hand in hand. What they didn't notice was that someone had been watching them from the shadows, looking especially displeased.

Blaine insisted on paying for their tickets and refreshments, and he and Kurt found seats in the surprisingly packed audience. Kurt noticed that most of it was filled up by students. He figured some teachers must have offered to give extra credit to students who attended, but he decided not to mention that right now.

At presicely 6:00, the lights in the auditorium dimmed, with a single spotlight shining on one Rachel Berry in a long tan tenchcoat.

"Hello everybody!" She said in her loud, Rachel voice, "I am very glad you decided to join us tonight on this First of December! As you may already know, all the proceeds from this shall be used to buy Holiday gifts for children in the hospital and at the homeless shelter. The fact that all of you are giving up your evening for them truly warms my heart. So, without further ado..."

With a flourish of music, all the lights in the auditorium went out, even the spotlight. It came on after a moment to reveal Rachel Berry standing right where they last saw her on the stage, but she had stripped off the trench to reveal a beautiful long red dress. The skirt of the dress poofed out just slightly, and had red rhinestones accentuating different places. It was accompanied by a short, white fur poncho that had a large red poinsettia pinned onto the side of it.

She sang "Thank You For The Music," and Kurt and Blaine kept joking that she must have met up with Thad prior to creating the setlist. The rest of New Directions walked onstage after awhile and joined in for the chorus, also clad in red and white.

They all ran offstage to leave Mike standing there, pouting that he couldn't sing like the rest of them. Tina joined him onstage to sing "Sing!", which even recieved a few chuckles from the jocks. Mercedes killed her solo of Pink's "Fucking Perfect" (censored version, naturally), and Brittany brought the house down with her solo for "Fergalicious." Blaine went on to comment that Artie was probably the best rapper he'd ever met. 'Especially for a nerdy white guy,' Kurt added with smirk, which resulted in Blaine almost snorting up his Coca-Cola.

After intermission and a raffle for some gift certificates to the frozen yogurt place, Mercedes and Rachel sang a duet of "Telephone," which Kurt was especially impressed by. Afterwards, Brittany ran onstage looking convincingly confused and dressed in the strangest outfit ever, fuzzy dice earrings and lime green and red and pink almost covering her head-to-toe. She sang "Wakin' Up In Vegas," and Blaine was practically squirming in his seat at the words of Katy Perry. Puck came onstage not too long after to sing "Cooler Than Me," and Kurt was stunned by how good Puck was at captivating the audience. He was convinced that this boy could become a star someday, if he really tried.

They closed with Finn singing the lead to "All Star," and the applause that followed was one of the biggest the New Directions had ever recieved. It almost brought tears to Kurt's eyes he was smiling so much. Blaine loved how happy he looked, and as the audience started pouring out, he stood up, offering his arm to Kurt. "Shall we?"

Kurt laughed before hooking his arm around Blaine's. "We shall."

They ran to the choir room as fast as they could, and joined the New Directions for their After-Party/Potluck. Blaine loved how happy Kurt was when he talked to his old friends, who were pretty awesome to Blaine as well.

After about two hours of chatting and gossiping, Kurt skipped over to Blaine, who was talking football with the guys.

"Hey Blaine! Are you ready to go?"

Blaine grinned up at Kurt, who was practically bubbling with happiness. "Sure, if you wanna."

After the boys said their goodbyes, they made their way down the hall to the front doors. Blaine stopped in the hall saying he had to quickly use the little boy's room first, and told Kurt he'd meet him in the car. Blaine turned into the next hall where he knew a Men's room was located, smiling to himself and humming that French song Kurt had sung to him the night before.

Blaine was absolutely giddy. Seeing Kurt happy did this to him. His IQ dropped about 50 points, his feet had to dance, and all he wanted to do was sing silly love songs and cuddle and watch the stars and WOW, the world just always seemed so much more promising when he was with Kurt. Even as he walked out of the stall and approached the sink to wash his hands, he was singing with glee.

**This is the way we wash our hands! **

**Wash our hands, **

**Wash our hands, **

**This is the way we wash our hands! **

**And get rid of the germies!**

Blaine chuckled to himself as he finished washing his hands, feeling like a child and LOVING it. He turned off the water, and looked at himself in the mirror.

To see David Karofsky standing right behind him.

Blaine gasped as he stared into the mirror in shock, smile instantly falling from his face. He felt as if he was in a horror film. He backed away from the mirror, almost convinced it was just a trick on his eyes, bur turned around to face a very real, very angry looking Karofsky.

"Wow, you really are a fag, aren't you?"

Blaine felt himself turn ghost-white at the words. _This couldn't be happening to him. Not again._ "Uh, I-uh, I w-was just leaving."

He made his way to run out the door, but a strong fist on the back of his collar pulled him back. Karofsky spun him around to grab his coat by the front collar with both hands, slamming him into the door of a stall.

"Now you listen to me, you fucking fag," Karofsky said in a hard whisper, barely inches away from Blaine's face. "If you don't back off of Hummel right fucking now, I'm gonna do to you what they stopped doing to homos 50 years ago."

Blaine didn't even know what Karofsky was insinuating, and he didn't _want_ to know. He just wanted to leave, _now. _Wake up from this almost-certain nightmare. Suddenly, memories of Blaine's past that he had so well erased from his memory came flooding back. Like a dam had broke loose, and sent the memories flowing free, some taking form as the tears that had begun to roll down his eyes.

"Yeah, that's right, I saw you and Hummel getting all mushy there in the hall earlier. Can't you flaunt your boyfriend somewhere private? Like in a fucking closet?"

"K-Kurt's not my-"

Karofsky shoved a fist into the stall door, just centimeters away from Blaine's face. "Don't you fucking lie to me! Just back off, understand?"

Blaine nodded furiously, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Karofsky leaned even closer to Blaine, harshly whispering directly into the smaller boy's mouth and staring directly into his eyes. "And don't you tell ANYONE about this, _or else_..."

And with that, Karofsky dropped Blaine from his grasp, and walked out of the Men's room. Blaine felt his legs immediately give out from under him, and he fell to the floor. It wasn't the pain from being shoved into the stall that was freaking him out right now, but Karofsky's words...

_"-you fucking fag!" _Blaine had heard those words enough already.

It took everything Blaine had to not completely break down and vomit right then and there as he crawled across the bathroom floor, and pulled himself up with the door handle. He hastily made his way to the parking lot, which proved easier said than done. His legs felt like jelly and his feet felt like pathetic stubs that he tried to balance himself on.

_I have to tell Kurt, or at least someone, _he thought to himself.

Once he reached the edge of the parking lot, he looked over to his car to see most of the New Directions girls crowding around where Kurt was situated in the passenger seat, laughing and smiling. He watched at Mercedes whispered something that made Kurt throw his head back in a fit of laughter.

He couldn't ruin this night for Kurt, he just couldn't. This was a perfect night for him.

Blaine quickly brushed himself off and wiped at his eyes, trying to rid any trace of the fear he was feeling right now, and walked over to his car as the girls left Kurt.

Kurt smiled up to Blaine as he got in the driver's seat. "Hey. You took awhile."

Blaine forced a smile onto his lips. "Sorry. Got lost."

Kurt laughed so happily, Blaine couldn't help but smile along. No, he assured when Kurt asked, nothing was wrong. He was just tired.

_Tired of so much..._

* * *

><p>Sometime on the night of December seventh, Kurt was dreaming about Blaine. Probably since the past week or so had been pretty close for the two friends.<p>

_Friends. _

Kurt didn't know how it got to this point, but he was kissing Blaine. _All over. Blaine was equally devouring Kurt. He kissed and bit at Kurt's neck, then slowly kissed his way up to suck Kurt's earlobe. Kurt was loving this so much. Just being completely Blaine's, and Blaine being completely his. Kurt could feel Blaine's hot lips moving slowly down his naked chest, biting at Kurt's torso. He was about to touch Kurt, when..._

_(KNOCK! KNOCK!) "KURT! KURT! KURT I NEED YOUR HELP!" _Shouted a voice from outside his door.

_...What. _

_The. _

_Fuck._

_(KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!) "Kurt! Are you awake? Please open up!" _The voice continued to antagonize a very sleepy Kurt.

_What is with people's sick obsession of interrupting my most wanted thoughts?_

Kurt groaned and turned over to look at the clock. _3:07am._

_Who the hell is rapping at my door at three in the morning? Someone had better be dying..._

He got up, slipped into his moccasins, and staggered to the door. "Muh...comin'..." He opened the door and saw Andrew Scott, Blaine's roommate. He hadn't changed since Kurt last saw him, still that same medium build and mousy brown-almost-blonde hair. But something was different. He looked...scared?

"Kurt, is Blaine here?" He asked, worried.

At the mention of Blaine's name, Kurt became suddenly interested in Andrew's situation.

"N-no. Why wou-?"

There came a murmur of, _'What the hell...' 'Where could he be?' 'Do you think he's safe?' 'He couldn't have gotten far...' 'Where would he go at three in the morning?'_ Kurt only just noticed Wes, and David standing behind Andrew. Then he noticed Nick and Jeff coming up the hall.

Jeffery Sterling was blonde, a little shy, and never really showed much dramatic emotion. He was quite oblivious and spacy, which made him super adorable. Jeff mostly kept to himself, unless he was around certain people. Those people mainly being Kurt, Blaine, Andrew, Wes, David, The Weasleys, and Nick. Nicholas Duval, on the other hand, was the loudest metrosexual you'd ever meet. Never felt awkward in public, always overly happy about everything, and almost always knew how to brighten a room, no matter what the situation. Both boys were overly cute in their own ways. But at this moment, both boys were strangely concerned, with looks of worry on their faces.

"We can't find him anywhere in the building," Jeff stated.

"Kurt hasn't seen him either," Andrew replied, even more worried.

Nick proceeded to stare at the ground, lips slightly parted and in deep thought, as if he were solving a very scary Sudoku. Which was weird, since Nick never really had to think much about anything. One of those sharper minds. Jeff looked even more confused than usual, as if HE were trying to solve a very scary Sudoku. Wes and David were conversing Blaine's motive to run off like that (or, rather, his LACK thereof), and Andrew just looked concerned. All the boys were in their pajamas and either robes or coats.

_What in actual hell is going on here?_

"Whoa, whoa, w-what's goin' on here?" Kurt finally asked, starting to get worried. "What happened to Blaine?"

"Oh my God," Nick looked up at the rest of the boys, eyes in shock and dodging Kurt's question. "You don't suppose he..."

"He wha-" Jeff's eyes widened in realization, "...Oh, NO."

All the boys except Kurt now understood what must've happened, because before he knew it-

"Come on, we have to go find him," Andrew decided, "Before something bad happens...again. You can come too, Kurt!"

Before Kurt could ask what was happening, Andrew grabbed his coat that was hanging by the door, and practically dragged him out of the dorm by the forearm.

"Here Kurt, put this on," Andrew handed Kurt his coat, "It's friggin' cold outside."

Kurt did as he was told, and followed the rest of the guys outside. But as soon as the cold air hit his face and he noticed he was standing in the dirt with in his very expensive moccasins, his patience melted away. "What the HELL is going on? Someone give me answers right damn NOW, before I lose it and tell Mr. Lesley that you guys sneaked out of your dorms after curfew!"

The boys turned at looked at Kurt, startled by his demanding tone and threat to tell the dorm supervisor of their outing. After the all shared a few glances, Andrew let out a shaky breath.

"I woke up in the middle of the night to find my room all but trashed, the door open, and Blaine missing. I panicked, and asked these guys if they'd seen him. We kind of assumed he might be with you, because...well, you know..."

Kurt sure as hell did _not_ know.

"We th-hink he s-s-sleepwalked," Nick said, in his stutter that only makes re-appearances when something's gone terribly wrong.

_Sleepwalked? _

"I'll give you details later, I promise," Andrew added, his tone urgent. "Just try to find Blaine, NOW!" He proceeded to use his phone as a flashlight, looking all over the ground for any trace of Blaine. "Nick, Jeff, go double-check all the buildings. Maybe we over-looked something." They both nodded, and ran to start in the dorms.

_Wes and David are freaked out, Nick's stutter is coming out, Jeff looks as if he's just seen a ghost, Andrew the JOCK is flipping out of his mind...what's going on?_

Kurt pulled his phone out of his coat pocket to use as a flashlight like Andrew had, when he noticed the text conversation he and Blaine had just earlier that evening. Kurt had been writing a paper for A.P. Lit, so he only took account of half of whatever Blaine was saying. He decided to quickly read it now.

..=**=...=**=...=**=...

_7:43pm_

_B: Kurt, do you ever think about McKinley a lot?_

_7:43pm_

_K: Only everyday haha. Do you think about your old school too?_

_7:44pm_

_B: Well...not until recently. The last few nights I've had the worst nightmares about my old school..._

_7:47pm_

_B: ...Kurt?_

_7:49pm_

_K: Srry Blaine, I'm working on a paper, ttyl!_

_7:49pm_

_B: Oh. Ok. Night, Kurt._

..=**=...=**=...=**=...

Kurt's eyes widened in fear at the words on the screen. _Shit. _Now Kurt was even more worried_. Nightmares...sleepwalking...Was this relevant to Blaine's absence? _

Kurt held his phone in front of him and tried to find Blaine. At this point he was close to frantic. He felt so guilty. _Blaine's still suffering. He always helped me. And when he needed help, I was too busy. Whatever this is, it's all my fault. I don't know how, or even where, but somewhere, this all points to me..._

_"I SEE HIM!"_

Kurt snapped his head and ran over to David's voice. In between a small huddle of Wes, David, and soon Andrew, a small figure was on the ground in the fetal position, sobbing quietly. He must've fallen somwhere, he had a light bruise above his right eyebrow and a cut across his left palm. Both his knees were skinned. His breath was irregular and shaky. He was only wearing his Dalton sweat shorts and a grey v-neck, yet was _sweating. _

_Blaine? _ Kurt's heart sank when he realized, yes, that is Blaine. Strong, proud, modest, amazing Blaine. Before long, Nick and Jeff ran over.

"We got your text, Dave. Did yo-" Jeff stopped and stared at the huddled figure at their feet. "Oh my God..."

Andrew looked ashamed. "He's my roommate...I should have asked him if everything was okay before bed...I sensed something was off, but...with school and...I should have talked to him..."

Nick was almost crying. "I th-thought it was _o-over_. W-why isn't it _over_? He's already s-s-suffered so m-much."

_Over? So THIS has happened before? Blaine sleepwalking outside in the middle of the night crying has happened before?_

"Shhh, you guys, he's saying something," Wes hushed the group.

Blaine could barely choke out his words at first, but the whole group heard. _"K-K-Kurt. ...K-Kurt! Kurt, help me! Save me, please! I saved you, please, help me! This isn't happening, oh God, please, no more! KURT! HELP!" _

Kurt gave into the guilt and was deep in tears now. He dropped down on his knees next to Blaine. He considered walking him up, but he read that you should never wake up a sleepwalking person too quickly, it might _really _freak them out. Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and tried to coo him, but was at a loss for words.

"Shhh, Blaine, it's going to be alright. I-I'm here. I'll help you. I'll always be here to help you Blaine, please!"

But Blaine barely stilled.

_"N-no! No, let me go! N-no, don't touch Kurt! Don't! Oh God, help! Please, Please..." _

Kurt was pretty sure he was hyperventilating a little at this point. _Oh god, what do I do? What else do I say? What do you say to calm down someone who's asleep? _

Then he remembered whenever he had nightmares as a child. His mother would hold him and...

Stroking Blaine's forehead, Kurt sat comfortably on his knees. He gave everyone a quick glance before he opened his mouth to sing to Blaine in a melancholy voice.

_**In the morning when I wake up and listen to the sound,**_

_**Of the birds outside on the roof,**_

_**I try to ignore what the paper says,**_

_**And I try not to read all the news.**_

_**And I'll hold you if you had a bad dream,**_

_**And I hope it never comes true,**_

_**'Cause you and I been through so many things together,**_

Kurt had to pause for a moment there, as he fought back his tears because _WOW, that's a very true line. _

_**And the sun starts climbing the roof.**_

It seemed to be working, because Blaine's crying ceased and his body stilled. His breathing was still shaky, but it was at a normal pace now.

_**It's a dream,**_

_**Only a dream,**_

_**And it's fading now...**_

_**Fading away,**_

_**It's only a dream.**_

_**Just a memory, without anywhere to stay.**_

The other boys looked on, some with tears in their eyes. Wes and David kept giving each other knowing glances behind their teary eyes, while Nick sobbed tears that were a strange mix of sadness and joy. Jeff just looked at the two, questioning if Blaine could hear them or not, then thinking what it would be like to hear everything while you were asleep, then thinking, _or maybe we CAN, but we don't really realize it...or maybe we- Oh, right, Blaine. Hope he's okay... _Andrew just looked at the two, and totally realized Kurt's feelings. He'd make a closer investigation later on. As Kurt refrained the chorus, all the boys joined in with backup vocals.

_**It's a dream,**_

_**Only a dream,**_

_**And it's fading now...**_

_**Fading away.**_

_**It's only a dream,**_

_**Just a memory, without anywhere to stay...**_

"Just a memory, without anywhere to stay," Kurt echoed between gentle sobs. "It's only a dream, Blaine." He heard Blaine whimper, and rubbed Blaine's back. "I'm here. Just take deep breaths. Shhh, no one's going to hurt you. You're just dreaming."

All the boys (now every one in some form of tears) looked on at the affection shared between these two.

Blaine opened his eyes slightly and groggily responded, "...K-Kurt?" Kurt squeezed his hand in response.

"I'm here, Blaine."

Blaine gave Kurt a small smile."N-never leave me, please Kurt. _Never._ Never, as long as I live and breathe."

_Well, THAT seemed awfully personal,_ Kurt thought, and grew red to the sound of the words.

"I-I won't, Blaine. I promise."

"Okaaayyy..." Blaine said as he drifted off to a deeper sleep.

There was a silence, then David said, "should we carry him up to bed now? Before we all get frostbite." He gave a sad smile that was returned by all the boys.

* * *

><p>David and Jeff gently carried Blaine up the stairs to the dorms. Andrew suggested Blaine sleep in Kurt's room tonight, since he had obviously wanted Kurt's presence, even if asleep. Kurt hesitantly agreed, and unlocked the door to his room so they could they set Blaine gently on the bed. After Nick hastily told Kurt a whole laundry list of things to do if <em>this<em> happens or if Blaine does _that_ in his sleep, all the boys left to go to their respective dorms-when Kurt stopped Andrew in his tracks.

"Andrew, I believe I deserve an explanation."

"Uhhh...what?"

"You know! '_We'd better find him before something bad happens_, AGAIN'?" He said, quoting ther boy. "_This _has happened before?" He gestured to the sleeping Blaine on his bed.

Kurt stared at him for a long time. Finally, Andrew let out a sigh and submitted.

"Sit down, Kurt." Kurt sat on the bed next to the sleeping Blaine, and proceeded to caress his shoulder. Andrew pulled up a chair and sat across from them.

"Well...Blaine was...traumatized...when he first came here, his sophomore year, late October. He mostly kept to himself. He'd never show it to any of us, but we'd hear him crying from time to time or talking in his sleep. About a two weeks after he transferred here, he started sleepwalking. At first it was just one of those things, you know? Just get up, walk to a corner, and fall asleep there. Just anxious nerves. But then...from time to time, his sleepwalking got progressively worse. At a certain point, he wouldn't just sleepwalk to another part of the room, but actually go different places in the building. To top it all off, he's generally a REALLY heavy sleeper. He'd usually just walk out to the kitchen and sleep there. I didn't wanna scare him, and I figured he could never go far, so I just carried him back to our room, sometimes with the help of another one of the guys. You know, ignorance is bliss? He only deserved to be blissful after all that had happened the year before."

Andrew took a deep breath before continuing.

"Last time he sleepwalked, I couldn't find him anywhere in the building. I asked David, Wes, Nick, and Jeff to help me. They were the only ones who knew about Blaine's sleepwalking, other than myself. We went outside where, after about 15 minutes of searching, we...we found a trail of blood by the front gate...it turns out he'd scratched himself on the gate. Not too severely, but it looked so much worse. David, Wes, Nick, Jeff and I followed the trail out to the river, at least three blocks...He..." Andrew took another shaky breath. "He was lying face down in the river."

Kurt gasped, wide-eyed.

"It was November, he was only wearing pajamas, I'm surprised he didn't get frostbite. We...we thought he was _dead_. Jeff, Nick and I ran over and got him out of the stream, turned him over, and..._God," _Andrew was so close to crying now. "His _eyes. _They were like slits, and he was...so _pale...so cold..." _His voice drifted off.

Kurt, also close to tears, was about to say something, when Andrew insisted he was fine, and continued. "David and Wes did CPR. Nick started crying, unable to make out clear words, Jeff just stood there with his mouth gaping open, and I...God...I don't even remember. I just remember that I thought I knew he was seriously dead, and that it'd be my fault for not talking to anyone about the sleepwalking. Just as I was about to completely _lose it_, he coughed up some water and started breathing. It was only brief, though. After a few seconds, he started screaming...he was still asleep but...but his eyes were _half-open_. 'I have to run away! Let me go Ryan! Logan, leave me alone! Please, stop! Stop you guys! Let me go! Why are you doing this?' Over and over again, trying to hide himself in his arms, sitting just how he was out there tonight. I thought he was posessed." He paused to make sure Kurt was listening. _As if it was totally possible for Kurt to not_ _listen right now. _Andrew continued.

"We couldn't carry him that far, so David got his car. We tried to wake him slowly in our dorm, but he kept throwing punches at us and screaming. Eventually, with the help of our pleads, he woke up. I was so relieved, I thought he'd never wake."

Kurt gave this a bit of thought..._to be trapped in a dream, no, a NIGHTMARE, forever...and never be free..._He shuddered at the thought.

"Blaine finally spilled to us all that had happened at his old school. He was bullied...bad. There were some hard dudes there, I mean...they were completely heartless. We told him about all his sleepwalking incidents, and what had happened, and he agreed to see someone. I must've apologized a thousand times, but he insisted he'd be okay. We all slept in his room that night, and held each other...it didn't just hit Blaine, I felt guilty as hell, Wes and David looked ten times more concerned than they do during competition season, Jeff was still in shock, and Nick...poor little Nick..."

Kurt still had trouble imagining any of those boys like that. Mostly all the Dalton boys always seemed so...confident. So...put together.

"Blaine's doctor prescribed some special medication, and I think he had brief therapy. When he came back after the holidays, he opened up to us a little more. We heard him singing one day, and convinced him to try out for the Warblers. After that...everything just kinda unraveled. It all worked out just fine...he never even screamed in his sleep. I just can't think of why it would happen again..."

Andrew finally let himself cry. Not any more significant than any other crying that happened earlier that night, but now Kurt understood _why_ he was crying like that, which made it seem like so much more... _Blaine's like Andrew's brother, and to see him suffer uncontrollably like this..._

Kurt felt his stomach lurch. He already felt guilty, but now...

He handed Andrew his cell phone and opened the text conversation he and Blaine were having earlier that evening. Kurt turned back to Blaine and noticed the cut across his right palm. He reached to the desk for his first aid kit and proceeded to wrap Blaine's hand. Andrew's jaw dropped as he read the text.

"Oh my God...what...why..."

Kurt started tearing up again. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even know...I still don't know WHY he's having the nightmares again and...this is all my fault."

Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kurt, look at me and listen closely. _None of this is your fault. _You couldn't have prevented this, and even if you could have, thinking it's your fault won't help us with anything right now."

"But I-"

"_Kurt...Kurt..._?"

Blaine started stirring in a half-conscious state.

Kurt turned back to Blaine and stroked his hair. "I'm right here, shhh, everything's okay."

_"Kurt...please...help..."_

"Shhh, Blaine, it's okay. I'm here, you're safe."

_"Okay..." _And with that, Blaine drifted off back to sleep.

"...This is so weird..." Andrew spoke, "He's never asked someone to help in his dreams before. He's only talked to his offenders. Well, he's shouted for help, but he's never requested someone of proper name."

Kurt was somehow flattered by this. _Blaine has only asked help from me? Oh Blaine, I wish I could tell you how I really felt. No one's ever had more of an impact on me. Ugh, what, no...he'd get so creeped out. To have his best friend say 'I love you,' when he CLEARLY doesn't feel the same...It'd be like Mercedes telling me she was in love with me...Again..._

Kurt finished wrapping Blaine's hand and held it tight.

Andrew smiled at this. "He always talks so fondly of you, you know. How talented you are, how brave you are."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you guys aren't...you know..."

"...What?"

"Well, dating."

Kurt got a weird feeling through his spine that traveled up to his ears. Almost like a jolt, but not quite.

"Blaine and I are just friends, Andrew. I have no interest in him in that way whatsoever," Kurt lied, badly.

Andrew's droll face evolved into a cheshire cat smile. "Oh, ok. _Whatever you believe,_" He said to Kurt with a wink.

"What?" Kurt asked, feeling caught.

Andrew relized how inappropriate this conversation was in this situation, and put a more serious smile onto his face. "N-nothing. We should probably get to sleep. Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? I want to tell Blaine what happened the moment he wakes up."

"Yeah, sure. I'll just go-" Kurt tried to stand, but felt that he was being held down. He looked down to Blaine gripping his wrist quite firmly.

"No...please..." Blaine begged.

Andrew chuckled. "Ha, looks like you'll just have to sleep _with_ _Blaine tonight_."

Kurt was sure he turned bright red. "Oh. Um...okay. Andrew, more comforters are in the top shelf of the closet, if you need any."

"Thanks Kurt." Andrew got some blankets and made a pretty impressive makeshift bed on the floor. "Well, goodnight Kurt."

Kurt looked at his clock. It now read 4:19am. _Yeah, NIGHT. _

Kurt awkwardly lay down under the covers next to Blaine, and- oh...Blaine immediately wrapped his arms around Kurt and nestled his face in Kurt's hair.

_Oh._

Kurt felt guilty, but couldn't stop smiling. Despite the situation, being in Blaine's arms made him feel more safe than he ever had in a long time.

He only hoped that Blaine could feel it too, right now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ;_; **

**I know it looks bad, but we all know it'll get better. I'll upload chapter four before long. **

**Also, sleepwalking is a known trait to anxiety and a restless/stressed out mind. **

**And YES, it IS possible to sleepwalk like Blaine did. I just read a story about this girl who was so restless in her sleep, she walked out of her house, down the street, and climbed up a FUCKING CRANE. Yeah, I know, _weird._**

**Just for future reference, Andrew Scott is one of Blaine's best friends. **Andrew is a senior, and very protective of Blaine. **His family is very close to the Andersons, and his mother actually suggested Blaine transfer to Dalton when it was said he was being bullied. He's been Blaine's roommate ever since he's first transferred, and the two have been through so much, they see each other as brothers. Andrew is straight, but is nonetheless totally accepting of Blaine and would go to the end of the earth to protect him. **

**I appreciate reviews so much, so thank you if you decide to do so. :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Obviously, this is chapter four. I don't know if it's really necessary at this point/at all, but I don't own Glee or songs or anything. Ha. **

* * *

><p>Kurt woke up the next morning at 6:00, to the sound of Andrew bitching out his alarm clock.<p>

"Kurt, how the fuck do you turn this off!" Andrew asked desperately.

Kurt just sighed, removed himself from Blaine's tight grip, and drowsily walked over and flipped the switch in the back.

"Oh," Andrew said.

"Mhm," Kurt replied. Blaine was still asleep. He looked so cute when he was asleep.

"So...Kurt..." Andrew said, noticing Kurt studying Blaine's features. "What you said last night...about not being attracted to Blaine...at all..." Kurt turned his head to look at Andrew, straight in his knowing eyes. "That's not true...is it?"

_Shit. _Kurt thought. _Why does Andrew have to be so damn observant? _

Kurt swallowed. Andrew just kept badgering him. "I see the way you look at him, how you looked when he was holding you last night like a teddy bear." _Andrew saw that?_ "I don't know, it just always seems like, especially when you're around h-"

"STOP! OKAY, JUST SHUT UP!" Kurt whispered so loudly, it almost didnt qualify as a whisper. Andrew put his hands up in defense and backed up a little, not understanding where he went wrong. Kurt sighed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Andrew looked at Kurt, mentally begging him for answers. "Can we talk about this later? I don't want Blaine to hear..."

"Don't want me to hear what?" Blaine groggily said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Uhhh...nothing, Blaine. Just Christmas presents," Andrew lied with a smile. "Are you alright, Blaine?"

"Uhhh...I think so...why...wait...why are we in Kurt's room?" Kurt was somehow happy to know that Blaine pointed out the fact that it was 'Kurt's room'.

Andrew spoke, now with more concern. "Blaine...you sleepwalked again."

Blaine looked as if he'd just seen a ghost. "No...oh God..."

"Blaine, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," Kurt spilled out to a now confused Blaine. "If I had only read your text, told the guys something was wrong-"

"Kurt," Blaine said, now sitting up on the bed and looking down at a very sorry Kurt, who was sitting on his knees in front of Blaine. "I promise you, _none _of this is your fault. You didn't know, and even if you did...it's not your fault."

"But-" Kurt started.

Blaine shushed Kurt and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me right now. I'll take care of myself. If I need anything, you'll be the first to know, okay?" Kurt just nodded. Blaine looked over to Andrew. "I have to go, I'm calling my mom. I'm so sorry I put you guys through that again. See you later," and like that, he was out the door, making his way to his own dorm.

Kurt slumped back, now lying down on Andrew's makeshift bed, staring at the ceiling.

Andrew looked back at Kurt. "You okay?"

Kurt nodded slightly. "To answer your question before, I...I think I like Blaine. Yes...Yes I do. But he doesn't like me back, so..."

Andrew's whole face brightened up. "Oh my God. YOU LI-"

"SHHHHH!" Kurt got up and placed a hand over Andrew's _big mouth_. "You're the only person I've told. If ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE else finds out-"

Andrew ripped Kurt's hand off his mouth. "I KNOW. I totally get that, I won't tell a soul." He gave Kurt a smile and said, "Well, I'm gonna go check on Blaine. See you later!"

"Mind if I co-"

"Bye!" Andrew shouted as he sprinted out the door. And with that, Kurt was alone. He fell back on his bed and closed his eyes.

_I can't believe I just told someone. Uggg what is my life... _

He rolled over face down into his pillow and breathed deeply.

_That's strange...it smells like...Blaine... _

Kurt breathed more, almost to tears. He'd never forget that smell for the rest of his life.

_Thank God it's a Saturday. _He lay there and hugged his pillow for at least an hour, drifting in and out of sleep every few moments. And the moments he did fall asleep, he saw Blaine's face. No fantasies (yet), no other friends. Just Blaine. Kurt just rolled his eyes at his obsessive thoughts.

_Huh... I like Blaine..._

_Well, at least this time he's gay, _Kurt thought, remembering Sam and Finn. He smirked a little at the images of Blaine's theatrics while singing.

_And not a COMPLETE idiot..._

* * *

><p>Andrew could hardly keep a straight face walking up the hall from Kurt's room. As soon as he'd returned to his dorm and changed into his uniform, he called Wes.<p>

_"Hello?" _Wes answered.

"Oh my God Wes, I have BIG NEWS."

_"Is Blaine alright?"_

"He's fine, he's up and running, and he went to call his mother. He's probably in the kitchen or something. But I have other news."

_"Uhhh...Okay, what?"_

Andrew lowered his voice. "_Kurt likes Blaine._"

Wes nearly dropped his phone. Yeah, sure, he could tell that Kurt liked Blaine and totally noticed Blaine having an attraction to Kurt, but to actually hear it...

_"NO WAY."_

"WAY."

_"Hang on Andrew..."_ Wes connected David to the line.

_"Wes?"_ David answered.

"And me!"

_"Oh, hey Andrew. Oh how's B-"_

"He's doing fine, but we have something to tell you."

_"...What?"_

Wes squealed. "KURT LIKES BLAINE!"

"HE TOLD ME HIMSELF! IT'S LEGIT!" Andrew blurted out.

_"OH MY GOSH! I KNEW IT!"_ David said. _"Hang on you guys."_ He added Nick to the line.

_"Hello?" _Nick answered.

"Hey Nick! It's David."

"And Andrew!"

"And Wes!"

_"Oh, hey guys! Hang on."_ He put the phone on speaker._ "Say hi to Jeff guys!"_

_"Hi Jeff!" _They all said.

_"Uggg...this better be important...I got only two hours of actual sleep last night, and I'm tired as fuck,"_ Jeff mumbled.

Jeff sounded like death, which was the complete opposite of Nick who, even just barely awake, still talked hyper, and brightly as ever. _"Yeah, you should've seen him when we finally got back to our dorm last night. I thought the Crankasaurus was extinct until now. Oh, so how's Blaine? I was so worried, I th-"_

"BLAINE'S FINE," They all said at once.

David overlapped the others, "But we have to tell you guys something."

Wes added, "It's about Kurt-"

"-And Blaine," Andrew put in.

Well, that sure as hell woke Jeff up. He rolled out of bed onto the floor by where Nick was sitting_. "Wait, what?"_

"KURT LIKES BLAINE! I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN!" Wes all but screamed.

_"OHMYGOSH! HANGONMEETYOUINTHECOMMONSBYE!"_ And with that, Nick hung up on the trio and made Jeff get dressed. They ran down the hall to the commons, where all their paths intersected in front of the doorway.

"Oh my God-"

"Blaine and Kurt-"

"Kurt and Blaine-"

"I TOTALLY called it-"

"THIS IS SO CUTE!"

And then they were all screaming like schoolgirls, which made many of the Dalton schoolboys walk past with confused looks on their faces.

"But here's the thing," Andrew stated, lowering his voice just slightly, "Blaine can't know. I'm gonna hint a little, but he CAN'T know. And none of you are supposed to know, so..."

"We know Drew, that part is obvious! The thing we need to know is how to get them to go out!" David insisted.

"Yeah," Wes added, "David and I can do, like, Warbler stuff, but we need more. LOTS more."

"Wait...exactly how forward can we be with this?" asked a hoping Jeff.

"I don't know..." responded Andrew, "Kurt doesn't even think Blaine likes him. Hell, I don't even know if Blaine actually _does _like him back!"

"Are you guys BLIND, _as well as bad at planning?" _Nick said, smiling so big it practically engulfed his face. "Of COURSE Blaine does!"

"...Of course I do what?"

Every one of the five boys snapped their heads to look at Blaine.

Nick quickly covered the surprise on his face with an eager smile and strode over to Blaine, enveloping him in a hug. "Blaine! So good to see you! Uh...how're ya doing? We were awfully concerned, especi-"

"Nick," Blaine said, pulling away and cutting Nick off before he got too carried away in a rant. "I assure you, I'm doing absolutely fine now. I just..." Blaine was obviously still shook up from his nightmare. "Uh-I talked to my mom. She was worried and insisted to get me some help, but I assured her I'd be fine. If it happens again, though, she wants me to start seeing Dr. Lawrence again."

The boys all exchanged nervous glances. They knew Blaine could make his own calls and of course they trusted him, but...they really didn't want this to have to happen again in order for Blaine to get more help.

"Blaine...you really need to tell us more. About this...relapse. You must have at least some inkling of why this is happening again," David said. "Did someone beat you up? Have you been threatened?"

Blaine shot his eyes up at David. "No! N-no, I...I'm fine, everything's alright now."

"_Everything's alright? _Blaine, you NEED to see someone immediately," Jeff said, for one of the first times in his life seeming totally sure about something. "This could become even bigger than it is already if you don't do something."

Blaine rubbed his forehead. "N-no, I ju-"

Wes backed up the other boys. "Blaine, to just have a relapse of something that could have most indefinitely cost you your LIFE last year, without meaning, is NOT NORMAL, it never was, and it won't pass until you do something!"

_"'_Blaine, Blaine, Blaine!_'" _Blaine mocked the others. He threw his hands up in the air and raised his voice slightly, now very aggravated at the boys' over-concern. He knew he could very well take care of himself. He didn't need anyone to worry for him, he didn't WANT anyone to worry for him. He began to walk away from the boys, "I can promise you, this will pass! I know the meaning of it, and if it gets worse, I-"

Andrew interrupted him with a cold laugh. "Oh, IF it gets worse? Worse than it already is? Well, enlighten me, what are we going to do in the meantime, Blaine?" Andrew snapped, blocking Blaine's path. He knew it might have sounded cold, but dammit, he had had well over enough of watching probably his best friend suffer like this. "What should we do in the meantime to keep you from killing yourself in your sleep? Bind you to your bed every night? Keep people out on watch, so we at least know what direction you went? Give you one of those tracking bracelets, so we'll know where to find your dead body?" His voice had evolved into a yell, angry tears beginning to glaze his eyes. "We need a plan, this can't happen again!"

"I can very perfectly take care of myself Andrew!"

"Just like how we've been taking care of you? To the extent of carrying your unconscious body out of the fucking river? You can't do it alone, Blaine! You can't do this again to yourself, or to me! Or any of us! You can't just push it aside like the problems you had in the past! There's no private school you can go to to run away from this, this problem IS you!"

Blaine stared back at Andrew, eyes wide in surprise. The surrounding boys found themselves speechless, but silently agreeing with Andrew, mouths gaping open and eyes darting to each other. It was true, finding Blaine last night was plenty excitement for a long time. Andrew just looked at Blaine with glossy eyes, hoping he would finally catch on to how extreme this all was.

Blaine was in shock. It was hard for him to feel sorry for himself when he wasn't even awake to see the incident. He knew that he was fine, and he could handle the consequences. He felt sorry for the others, though. Especially remembering that night, one year ago, when they all just held each other and felt safe after finding Blaine in the creek.

The day following this event, his mother and father flew in from wherever they were conferencing or whatever, and at the sight of him, Blaine's mother enveloped him into a great hug. Not a bear hug, and not a chaste one, but a motherly hug. Her arms squeezed around his shoulders in all the right places, and her gentle hands stroked his hair. That touch was the touch that Blaine knew as safety, as home. As...well, love.

...Which was kinda strange, because Blaine could swear he felt that same kind of touch last night. But...different. The welcomeness between the two were the same, but he knew this touch a little differently. ...This touch that was warm and soft and always smelled like something tingly-sweet. And a voice...someone singing in an angel's voice. ...Was it only a dream? Or...rather...

He almost stumbled back when he realized who it was, who had that welcoming presence and that angel's voice...

_Kurt_.

He silently mouthed the name to himself, almost smiling at the thought.

"I'm sorry Blaine," Andrew's voice broke the silence, and he slouched against the near wall, feeling guilty, "I was totally out of place, I shouldn't have-"

"No, you're right...I'm sorry, you guys." Blaine looked to all the boys. "I...need coffee. And...I'm gonna go lie down."

And with that, Blaine was back up the hall, heading towards his room.

Andrew slid down the wall and proceeded to sit there. He reached his hand up to wipe at his brow. "Do you think I was too hard on him?" He asked the group.

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Just a bit..."

"No. ...Wait, what?"

Nick gave a small chuckle at Jeff's obliviousness before sitting on the floor against the wall next to Andrew. "Drew...you weren't _too_ hard on him...though I think you might be catching a little bit of Blaine's anxiousness." He gave Andrew a small smile. "If last night proved anything, it's that Blaine's very fragile at the moment, and I think your shouting may have...been a little much. I know you feel very strongly about this, but-"

"It's just..." Andrew let his head fall into his hand. "Blaine's like my little brother...and he doesn't deserve any of this, and when we couldn't find him last night...I thought...I just can't have another relapse of last year...it's just...he's..."

"I know. We all know how awesome Blaine is, and how he should never have to go through anything horrible ever again. But he...hmm. It's not as if he's a...an extremely delicate flower. Just a very rare one, which we need to keep safe. Like those weird looking lilies that grow in the Amazon."

Andrew looked up and gave Nick a small smile, which he gratefully returned. The other boys smiled too.

"Now," Wes began, stepping a little closer to the two on the floor, "since our 'lilly' seems to be safe for the moment, waddya say we go back to what we met here to do?"

"Uhhh," Jeff asked, "What was it that we met here to do? Before Blaine came into the picture, all I remember is being pissed off that certain dark-haired friend of mine woke me from my, what, three hours of sleep?" he cocked an amused eyebrow to Nick, who blushed. "Without bearing coffee, too. I haven't even had breakfast today!"

"I'm sorry Jeffy!" Nick said with a grin, giving Jeff a quick hug. He looked up at the taller boy, "But the only reason I woke you up was because David called me saying that KURT LIKES BLAINE!"

"OH! I remember now!"

"I knew you'd get it," Nick said with a nudge. "And I promise, I hated having to wake you up. You look so adorable when you sleep, it was like waking up a little bunny."

As Jeff blushed, Wes pushed himself in between the two. "Alright, first we make Klaine happen, THEN we'll work on 'Niff'," he smirked, feeling rather cocky.

This earned Wes a good punch in the arm from Jeff. Nick just laughed and gave them both a little shove, before opening the doors to the commons. "Come on you guys, we can talk _Klaine_ all we want, no one's in the commons yet. Oh, besides the Weasleys! Greg! Matt! Hi!" Nick lowered his voice slightly before turning back to the others. "Should we ask them to help? With Klaine, I mean."

"Sounds good to me," David shrugged.

"Why not?" Wes said.

"Hey!" Nick called back to the twins, who were standing on a ladder, Matt handing water balloons up to Greg from a bucket on the floor. They often hid various weapons in a high air vent in the commons before everyone woke up, "just in case". They both turned to look at the approaching Nick.

"You wanna help us play matchmaker?" He asked the two pranksters.

"What, you need a match?" Greg smiled.

"Cuz I don't think you need much help with that." Matt moved up the ladder to stand level with Greg.

"...Oh?" Nick raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.

Matt pretended to faint into his brother's arms, exclaiming, "Oh, Jeffy!" in an almost sexual manner. "My adorable little bunny!"

"Yep," Greg said.

"We heard that," they said in unison with obnoxious smirks on their faces.

Typical. The twins somehow always knew and heard everything. Not to mention Nick and the boys were standing right outside of the commons when they had this conversation.

"Oh, now you've done it!" Nick yelled, running to the bucket of water balloons the twins clumsily left on the floor, and began to pelt the brothers, all laughing way too much than someone should this early in the morning.

As Wes, Andrew, and David charged to the now erupting water balloon fight, no one saw Jeff smile at the adorable, sweet, funny dark-haired boy.

* * *

><p>Blaine made his way to his room, thinking of Kurt all the way. Not that he was trying to- it was like Kurt was a drug. Blaine wanted Kurt now, he needed him now, more than before. He wanted to feel Kurt's warm touch and hear his soft voice. And the fact that he did almost made Blaine collapse right there in the hall.<p>

Yep. Blaine had finally come to terms with the fact that he loved Kurt. He'd felt this way since the very beginning, but realizing it like this was just incredible. Kurt's voice, his touch, his compassion...How could someone NOT love everything about Kurt?

_"Blaine!"_

Blaine's head snapped up at the sound of his name as Kurt engulfed Blaine in a surprising (yet no less welcoming) hug. Blaine was instantly calmed at the tingly-sweet smell Kurt wore on his body, and the unmistakeable scent of vanilla and almond he wore in his hair.

Kurt pulled away after a few moments, still grasping Blaine's shoulders, and looked him straight in his face, hazel eyes meeting the blue. The sight of Kurt's beautiful ocean-blue eyes helped Blaine feel even more at ease. They were bright and bold, and as solid as Kurt himself. Going to Dalton for the last year, Blaine had seen few other boys transfer to Dalton during the school year to escape bullying, and almost all of them had this...emptiness in their eyes. Like the bullies...broke them.

But Kurt never had any hint of defeat in his eyes. Even when it seemed Karofsky hit him the hardest, Kurt never let his guard down, which never ceased to amaze Blaine.

Kurt surveyed Blaine's eyes. They were still filled with something unsure, but they had less worry in them now, which brought Kurt some relief. "Blaine, where have you been? I looked in your room, and when you weren't there..." Kurt trailed off, not wanting to sound like a mother hen.

Blaine smiled reassuringly at the slightly taller boy, somewhat flattered by his worry. He pulled Kurt's hands down from his shoulders and held them, dangling between the two boys. "I'm fine, thanks to you guys."

Kurt smiled sweetly at Blaine, but dropped it slightly after he saw Blaine's wrapped hand. The gauze was coming loose. And the bruise on his forehead was a light shade of purple. Kurt furrowed his brow. He just had to know what caused this. He hated seeing Blaine so...weak.

"Blaine...considering we're friends, and since you gave us quite a scare last night, I was thinking...do you wanna talk about it?"

Blaine's smile fell and he worried his lip between his teeth. It's not that he didn't want to be honest with Kurt. It was just hard for him to be honest with himself. He denied all that had happened, and coming back to it was one of the most difficult things he'd ever faced.

"...maybe it'd be easier if we were in your room, rather than this open hallway?"

Blaine looked back up at Kurt. Yes, there was no one in the hallway, but it was still weird.

He turned the corners of his lips up slightly at Kurt.

"Yeah, that'd be better."

They walked up to Blaine's room and shut the door behind them. Blaine sat on his bed and gestured for Kurt to sit down next to him. Kurt could see he really didn't wanna do this, but it had to be done.

"...H-how much did Andrew tell you?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"...Pretty much everything. Right now we're all just wondering _why_ what happened last night happened."

Blaine let out a shaky breath and dropped his head between his knees. Kurt placed a comforting hand on Blaine's back. They sat like that for a few good minutes before Kurt attempted to break the silence.

"Blaine, if you rea-"

"Karofsky threatened me."

Kurt's eyes grew as wide as saucers at the thoroughly shaking boy before him. _What? _"W-what do you mean he-"

"After the concert, when I went to the restroom." Blaine turned his head to look at Kurt. "I was just w-washing my hands, and I look up and he's behind me in the mirror. I-I tried to run, but he p-pushed me against the stall and said if I didn't back off you, h-he'd...or else..." Blaine dropped his head back into his hands, breathing shakily.

Kurt was furious. Threatening him at McKinley was one thing, but _Blaine?_

"A-and then, for the past few d-days, it's just been on my mind." Blaine was shaking uncontrollably now. "W-what he said and what he c-called me, and...And I've been having nightmares about my o-old school, and what they did to me th-there, and...God..." He looked back up at Kurt. "I know I should've told you, but you've just been so happy and strong and I didn't wanna r-ruin that. If I knew this was gonna happen, I would've told someone but...I didn't want anyone to worry. Especially you."

Kurt looked down at Blaine, his once strong, composed friend, now falling apart.

_"I-I'm such a coward," _Blaine said, crying softly into his hands.

Kurt almost felt a sob escape from his throat, when he remembered that _he_ had to be the strong one right now. Kurt cupped Blaine's face in his hands and looked Blaine straight into his eyes, which were still that lovely green-gold color, despite the tears and redness that surrounded them.

"Blaine. Listen to me. You are _not_ a coward. You are not anything Karofsky or any of those other neanderthals said you are, nor did you deserve what they did to you. Reacting like this just proves that you're human. You are strong, Blaine. And even the strongest of us need to let it out sometime or another. And that doesn't make you a coward. Don't you ever think that."

Blaine kept staring at Kurt, taking in his every word. He nodded slowly and wrapped his arms around Kurt in a desperate hug. Nothing else mattered anymore, he just wanted Kurt. Only Kurt could make him feel strong when he felt his weekest, happy when he felt the saddest, at peace when he felt like a nervous wreck.

Kurt smiled sadly as he pulled away from Blaine. "So, what do you think about seeing someone about this?"

Blaine mirrored Kurt's smile. "Actually...after letting it out, I feel a lot better."

Kurt raised a skeptical eyebrow at this. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I feel like this...weight has been lifted off my shoulers." He smiled at Kurt once again, before the taller boy laughed and pulled them both down on the bed in a tight hug.

"Good," Kurt yawned as he closed his eyes, still feeling quite sleep-deprived. "I was beginning to miss your smile."

Blaine let his eyes flutter closed as he listened to Kurt's steady breathing and intertwined their fingers.

"Me too."


	5. Chapter 5

**So, we're gonna start expanding our outlook from just Klaine. I know, I know, Klaine is the answer to everything, but I hope you like what I've come up with. **

**By the way, I really like the scene I've put together in the beginning of this chapter. I'm thinking of maybe doing one-shots of some of the boys, just because I love them so much. Ha, writing like this makes me feel so ~pro. **

**Don't own anything, as always.**

* * *

><p>The Dalton morning routine was pretty consistent for Warbler Jeff. He'd wake up to an empty dorm, drowsy and tired, at about 6:00. After a quick shower, he'd slip into his uniform and blazer, grab his textbooks that were required for the classes he had that day and shove them into his tan messenger bag. Then he'd run downstairs to the practically abandoned Dorm Kitchen to grab coffee and breakfast with Kurt, Blaine, Wes, David, Andrew, Nick, and occasionally Matt and Greg.<p>

Sure, they could just go to the cafeteria to grab breakfast and coffee. But since Blaine came into the picture Sophomore year, they found comfort in making their own pot or two of coffee (usually brewed by Nick, who woke up bright and early every morning at 5:30). And when Kurt came to Dalton, they found he had exceptional cooking abilities-especially when it came to pancakes, crepes, omelets, souffles, and so much more. Also an early riser, he always offered to cook breakfast for the guys.

So as the smell of coffee and breakfast filled the hall, Jeff eagerly walked to the kitchen every morning to start off the day.

Jeff approached the kitchen, and stopped at the half-open door to peek inside. Kurt was clearly making waffles and some type of jam, and it smelled _fantastic._ David was sitting on a stool next to the island reading the newspaper, and Wes was sitting across from him, trying to read the sports section.

...And leaning on the counter, hands clasped around a warm mug of coffee and clearly humming to himself with a pleasant smile was Nick. His brown eyes were bright and had that ever-present sparkle that often sent Jeff into heart failure whenever he stared at them too long.

Now, Jeff was never really sure of anything, but he was positive that Nick had to be one of the cutest, most modest, most amazing guys he'd ever met. It was seriously mind-blowing. Jeff smiled to himself before walking into the room to grab some coffee and fight Wes to the death for the first waffle.

Kurt was always surprised at how much energy these boys could acquire in the morning after a cup of coffee. Especially when he compared them to his step-brother, Finn, who almost never looked as awake as Wes was right now, grabbing the first waffle straight out of the iron, juggling it as he sprinted around the kitchen away from Jeff.

Kurt laughed as he shoved the next waffle into Jeff's chest as he passed, who started squirming at the sudden heat. Nick walked over, laughing, and checked Jeff's hands for burns. Kurt could see Jeff faintly blush at the touch of the smaller boy's hands on his own. After Nick handed Jeff a plate, he proceeded to fix Jeff's messily-knotted tie.

Kurt considered this for a moment, before hearing a familiar laugh enter the kitchen. He turned to see Andrew run through the kitchen doors with Blaine on his back, both boys laughing like crazy. Kurt loved seeing Blaine this happy, especially after what had happened last Saturday morning. As Blaine mounted off of Andrew's back, he ran over to Kurt, hazel eyes glistening in the light.

"Morning," Blaine said with a breathless smile, running his hand through his hair. Though he bought a new bottle of gel, he hadn't been gelling it nearly as much as he used to. Just enough so it stayed mostly in one place.

"Morning," Kurt smiled back, taking in each and every one of Blaine's perfect features as he so often did. _God...why does Blaine make it so easy to fall in love with him? _

_..._

_In love. With him. _

_I'm so in love with Blaine..._

Andrew furrowed his brow and sniffed the air. "Uhhh...Kurt? What's burning?"

Kurt's eyebrows shot up as he broke out of his trance and tried to save the waffle that was burning. Forgetting to grab the tongs, he grabbed it with his hand, burning his knuckles on the iron.

_"Shit, OW!" _He quietly cursed at his own clumsiness.

Blaine gasped as he moved closer to Kurt, who was leaning on the counter in pain. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Kurt said, sticking his knuckles in his mouth.

"No, you're not," Blaine said, "let me see." He took Kurt's hand from his mouth and rubbed the burn gently, caressing the slightly wet, tender skin.

"Ow," Kurt gasped.

"Sorry," Blaine said, eyes not leaving Kurt's hand. "Lots of people think you should rub a burn with ice. But really you should rub it with something equally warm, like a gentle hand. So it doesn't blister too badly."

"Uh-huh..." Kurt drifted off as he watched Blaine magically rub the pain out of his hand. His calloused hands were careful and gentle with Kurt's soft ones. The familiar touch of Blaine's slightly rough fingers never ceased to send shivers all through Kurt's body.

All the boys shut up and looked on at this sight, smirking to each other.

Blaine stopped the motion after a while and furrowed his brow at Kurt's hand. "We should probably get you a band aid. Your skin's pretty raw."

"Uh...Yeah, yeah, probably."

"But I want another waf-" Andrew started, before Wes clapped a hand over his mouth.

"See you guys in class, kay?" Blaine said as he grabbed his and Kurt's bags and led Kurt out the door, still cradling his hand.

As the door shut behind them, the boys broke into chatter.

"Oh. My. God," Wes said. "Those two need to be hit over the head with a baseball bat."

"Multiple times," David said, "they seriously need to get a move on."

"Aw, but that was really cute..." Nick commented.

"Wait, so does this mean no more waffles...?" Jeff asked out loud, receiving a light smack up the back of his head from Andrew.

"Alright," Andrew said, "we need to finally put one of your plans in action," he gestured to Wes and David. "It's been like five days since Blaine's...relapse. And he's taking it fine, so, especially since break's comin' up soon, I think we should get these guys a move on."

"Agreed," Wes nodded.

"So, any ideas?" Andrew asked.

David and Wes looked at each other and cocked an eyebrow. "Well," David started, "since the holidays are coming up, maybe Kurt and Blaine should _exchange presents_."

"_Good ones_," Wes put in.

"...Exactly what kind of presents are we talking about?" Andrew asked skeptically.

David smiled mischievously. "Oh, you know, nothing _too _extreme-"

"-But gigantic, none the less."

David huddled the boys a little. "See, since they evidently have trouble _saying_ their feelings to each other-"

"There's only one other way they can get them out." Wes said, smirking.

David raised an eyebrow. "It don't take a single word..."

The boys looked confused until Nick caught on. "Oh! You're gonna make them kiss, aren't you?"

"Gotta cut the sexual tension somehow," David said, making some of the boys cough up their coffee.

"Alright guys," Wes said, looking around one more time to make sure no one was listening. _"_Time to plot _Operation: Kliss."_

* * *

><p>Pre-Calc was exceptionally uninteresting today. Probably because nothing was processing for Kurt. He couldn't stop thinking about Blaine. His eyes, his hair, his...everything. Even when Ms. Griffith gave them the option to split into small groups to quietly work on homework together, Kurt just continued staring out the window in a daze.<p>

All of a sudden, Kurt jumped to the sound of desks scraping towards him. He looked over to see that Nick, Matt and Greg had all pushed their desks around Kurt, smiling eagerly.

"Wanna do _homework_ with us, Kurt?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow as he gestured to Ms. Griffith coming their way. All boys pretended to do their math until she was out of earshot.

"So Kurt," Nick said, lowering his voice as he leaned into Kurt. "You're in love with Blaine, huh?"

Kurt looked up from his textbook in shock. "Wh-wha...h-how did you..."

The Weasleys chuckled.

"Andrew dropped a hint,"

"Not to mention you're pretty obvious,"

"No offense," they said simultaneously.

Kurt looked between the two and Nick, feeling rather caught. He threw his pencil onto the table and sighed deeply. He let his head fall into his hand.

And now he was almost crying, and _why would he be crying? It's not a big deal! Just that Blaine's amazing and Kurt's...Kurt._

Nick reached a gentle hand to Kurt's shoulder. "It's alright Kurt. We get how you're feeling, and we wanna help you."

Kurt looked up at the three boys, all wearing slight smirks on their faces. "...Wh-...what do you mean?"

"Whatcha gonna get him for Christmas?" Greg asked.

"You could do something really romantic with that." Matt supplied.

"Yeah, I can just imagine what Blaine's gonna get you."

"He's smitten on you too, by the way."

_WHAT. _

Kurt's widened his eyes in disbelief. "...What?"

The twins smiled casually. "You heard us."

Kurt looked to Nick, who grinned excitedly and nodded.

Blaine liked him.

_Blaine. Liked. Him._

Kurt couldn't help the enormous grin that was enveloping his face. If he wasn't in Pre-Calc, he totally would've started crying for reals, because _Blaine liked him._

"Sooo, what do you wanna give Blaine for Christmas?" Nick asked.

Kurt thought for a moment, grin never leaving his face. "I don't really know..."

"-And that's where we come in to help you!" Matt said.

"Nick, tell him what we were thinking." Greg said, shoving the smaller boy a little.

Nick gave them both a questioning look before addressing Kurt. "Well Kurt, maybe since Blaine _melts _every time you sing something, you should sing to him."

Kurt blushed as he nodded in agreement, mentally looking through possible songs on his iPod. "Anything else?"

The three boys glanced at each other as Greg scribbled something down on a small piece of paper and tossed it across the desk to Kurt.

Kurt furrowed his brow slightly and opened the paper. In stylistic handwriting, the paper said only two words.

_Kiss Him._

Kurt's jaw dropped and he looked between the twins in disbelief once again. "Wh-you think I should WHAT?"

"Shhh!" Ms. Griffith shushed them from her desk across the room.

"Oh, come on Kurt!" Nick whispered as the dinosaur of a teacher once again became engrossed in her novel. "You know you want to, you know HE wants to, and you know he's much too much of a gentleman to make the first move!"

This was true. Especially given Kurt's past, he knew Blaine was much too considerate to make the first move, no matter how much Kurt wanted him to.

"...I'll think about it."

The boys grinned at this challenge and lept out of their seats as soon as the bell rang, leaving a completely fazed Kurt sitting in his desk, wondering if all that had just happened had been a dream. He started shoving his books in his bag, when he noticed a note on his desk. The Weasleys must have slipped it right before they left. Kurt eyes widened as he opened and read the note.

_And try flirting a little more, so Blainers doesn't give up hope before it's too late! D:_

Kurt decided to shake this out of his head for now, and made his way to Glee club. Once inside, he caught Blaine's eye and made his way over to the couch where Blaine was sitting. Kurt wanted so badly to talk to him about it, but remained mostly silent, despite the smile on his face.

"So how was Pre-Calc?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Hm? Oh, it was fine. I, uh, learned a lot of new stuff today..." He trailed off.

"Oh?" Blaine asked.

Kurt opened his mouth to speak when Wes banged his gavel.

"Alright everyone! Time to begin! Before Thad, David and I reveal what songs we're gonna sing for the Christmas party, Warblers Jeff, Nick, Greg and Matt requested to do a number for us today."

Kurt furrowed his brow in confusion as the four boys stood, making their way over to the middle of the room. A few other boys lined up, to sing background vocals. As the four boys passed Kurt and Blaine on the couch, Jeff dropped a note into Kurt's lap. _What the hell is with these guys and notes? _It was in the same handwriting as other ones and simply said:

_This one's for you Kurtsie! ;)_

Kurt looked confused for a moment. Then, when the boys started singing the opening bars and Kurt recognized the tune, it took all he hnot to jump up and tackle them. Instead he attempted to keep a calm face as Nick started singing, wide grin on his face.

_**There you see her sitting there across the way, **_

_**She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her,**_

_**And you don't know why, but your dying to try, you wanna- **_

_**Kiss the girl!**_

Kurt blushed furiously as Blaine cluelessly tapped his hand on his knee with the beat. Jeff moved up next to Nick to sing the next part, smiling and raising an eyebrow at Kurt.

**Yes you want her!**

**Look at her you know you do!**

**It's possible she wants you too, there one way to ask her.**

**It don't take a word not a single word go on and-**

**Kiss the girl!**

Nick and Jeff split apart to reveal Matt and Greg singing in unison, smirking obviously.

_**Sha la la la la la la, my oh my!**_

_**Looks the boy's to shy, ain't gonna kiss the girl!**_

_**Sha la la la la la la, ain't that sad!**_

_**It's such a shame to bad,**_

_**You're gonna miss the girl!**_

_**Go on and kiss the girl...**_

Nick and Jeff sang the next part together, harmonizing.

**Now's your moment!**

**Floating in a blue lagoon!**

**Boy you better do it soon, no time will be better!**

**She don't say a word and she won't say a word until you-**

**Kiss the girl!**

Matt and Greg stepped forward again to sing the chorus.

_**Sha la la la la la la my oh my, looks the boy's to shy, ain't gonna kiss the girl!**_

_**Sha la la la la la la ain't that sad, such a shame to bad your gonna miss the girl!**_

Now all four boys sang the chorus, running around the room and rocking out to Ashley Tisdale's upbeat rendition of "Kiss The Girl."

**Sha la la la la la la don't be scared!**

**We got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the girl!**

**Sha la la la la la la don't stop now! **

**Dont try to hide it how you wanna kiss the girl...**

They slowly walked over to Kurt, surrounding the now very red boy.

**Go on and kiss the girl...**

**Kiss the girl...**

**Kiss the girl...**

**Sha la la la la la la la la la la!**

**Go on and-**

**Kiss the girl.**

The boys ended, looking at Kurt with big grins. The Warblers all broke into applause, Wes and David looking fairly accomplished and Blaine laughing his ass off. Kurt had to admit, it really was a fantastic performance...

_BUT BLAINE WAS RIGHT FRIGGIN' THERE. _

"Haha, that was great guys!" Blaine laughed. "But I can't help but wonder, why'd you sing _that _song?"

"Oh, just...wanted to get a certain message across," Jeff simply said.

Blaine looked at Kurt and furrowed his brow in confusion, but Wes started up before he could say anything.

"Thank you Warblers, that was very impressive! Anyways, back to business. David, Thad and I have decided what songs we think would be good for the Christmas party."

"First off," David started, "We have "Carol of The Bells", a group number."

"Then, after this performance, we thought that Nick and Jeff should sing "Last Christmas" by Wham!."

Nick grinned so big it almost split his face in two. "Did you hear that Jeff? We get solos!" He gave Jeff a tight hug. Jeff looked over Nick's shoulder at the council, as if to say _"that wasn't in the plan!" _They just gave obnoxious smirks in return.

"Well, you know," Nick continued when he finally pulled away from Jeff, "it's a duet, so I guess you can't call them solos, but still!"

"_Then..._" Thad cocked an eyebrow with a smile, "we have Kurt and Blaine singing the lead to "Baby It's Cold Outside"."

Blaine smiled and nodded, but Kurt's reaction was not as composed.

"Wait, WHAT?" He asked, wide eyed.

The council all smiled innocently at Kurt. "Something wrong with that?"

_Something wrong with singing one of the cutest duets ever with Blaine? No way. _

Kurt, though he didn't show it, was practically bubbling with happiness right now. And though he couldn't see it, Blaine was too.

He looked at Blaine, who shrugged. "No, not at all," he smiled at the council.

Wes continued. "Alright, now...we _were_ thinking about Blaine singing the lead to "Auld Lang Syne," but then we..."

Though the chatting resumed, Kurt wasn't paying attention to any of it. He had something much more important on his mind right now.

_First, I'm going to sing a duet with Blaine. _

_Then..._

_I'm going to kiss him. _

He stared into space with a faint smile still on his lips. _This is going to be interesting..._

* * *

><p>After rehearsal had ended, Blaine grabbed Kurt's shoulder from behind him, slightly startling the boy.<p>

"Do you mind helping me with my French homework today?" Blaine smiled as he intertwined their fingers together.

Kurt smiled back. "Mais oui."

"Hey Blaine!"

They turned to see Wes and David sitting at the table. "We'd like to speak with you about your solo, if that's not too big of a problem."

Blaine tilted his head in confusion before turning to Kurt. "Meet me in my dorm in a few minutes?"

Kurt smiled to cover up his disappointment. "Yeah, sure." And he walked out of the room.

At the instant the door closed, Matt, Greg, Andrew, Jeff, and Nick all appeared from an adjoining classroom and dragged Blaine with them to sit on the couches with Wes and David.

"Hi Blainey!" The Weasleys chorused.

"Oh, hello, Blaine," Andrew said, smiling.

"I brought chocolate cookies!" Nick said, setting a plate of cookies from behind him onto the coffee table in the middle of the couches as the boys looked at him with confused expressions. "What? My mom just sent the package! It's comfort food!"

"...What's going on?" Blaine asked skeptically.

"We know you like Kurt," Wes said plainly.

Blaine stared at him, jaw dropped. "H-how..."

"Wasn't that hard to figure out." The Weasleys said.

"Not to mention you talk in your sleep..." Andrew supplied quietly.

Blaine stared ahead. All the boys stared him down, waiting for him to say something.

"...Blaine?" Nick asked, slightly worried. "Are you oka-"

"-'m so in love with him."

The boys looked at each other with wide expressions. Sure, they totally saw this coming, but they never expected to see Blaine almost to tears. "I...I love him so much and it's just...it's killing me how...I _know _he'll never feel the same, but..._God_...I feel so pathetic..."

He buried his face in his hands, shaking slightly.

"Wow..."

"And we thought Kurt's reaction was extreme."

Blaine looked up at the Weasleys. "...What?"

"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Matt asked, reaching to grab a cookie from the table.

"Kurt totally likes you," Greg said casually, as he snatched the cookie from Matt's hand and took a casual bite.

Blaine looked as if he'd just been smacked in the face. _Kurt liked him. _

"He...he really does?"

The boys all nodded, smiling at Blaine.

Blaine smiled larger than he had in the past few weeks. "...How much?"

The boys looked at each other. "Oh, just a little," Nick lied.

"But it could become so much more," David hinted.

_Kurt liked him...Kurt. Liked. Blaine. _Blaine couldn't believe his ears. Even though it was only a little...Kurt felt something for him.

"So...you should kiss him," Wes said on cue.

Blaine's eyebrows shot up at the boy. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, why not Blainey?" Greg asked.

"The perfect kiss under the mistletoe!" Matt said as he pretended to swoon into his brother's arms.

"N-no..." Blaine said.

"Why not?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, don't you wanna?" Nick said.

"Of course I want to!" Blaine said, beginning to raise his voice.

"Then what could possibly be holding you back?" David asked.

"I can't do that to him!" Blaine almost yelled, standing up. "At McKinley, when that jock..." Blaine shuddered at the thought of the name. "_Karofsky_, he...Kurt didn't want him to...he stole Kurt's first kiss. I can't do that to him, you guys. He has to do it."

The boys pretended to consider this, when really it was all part of their plan.

"Well...how about a nice gift?" Andrew supplied after a long pause.

Blaine nodded slowly. "Alright, yeah. Um...I'll talk to you guys later. I gotta do homework with Kurt."

The boys all knowingly smiled. "See ya Blaine!"

Blaine rolled his eyes at them before he made his way down the hall, loosening his tie as he went. This was all way too much to comprehend right now...The thought that Kurt actually liked him...it not only shocked his mind, but he could feel it in his whole body. He felt butterflies in his stomach, and a similar sensation in his ears. He felt as if he had to concentrate on his breathing, or else he'd stop altogether. And the smile that reached all the way up to his eyes felt plastered on, as if he could never wipe it off.

He opened the door to his room to find Kurt, looking through one of his magazines. He turned quickly at the sound of Blaine entering the room.

"Hi Blaine," Kurt said.

"Oh, hey Kurt. Should we start our homework now?" He asked, with a cool, composed smile.

Kurt smiled back. "Yeah, sure."

Kurt sat on his bed and opened his textbook as Blaine flipped through some notes.

"So," Kurt began, not looking up from the page, "what did Wes and David wanna talk to you about?"

Blaine smiled to himself. "Oh nothing. Just something they thought I might wanna know, I guess."

"Hm?" Kurt raised his head to look at Blaine. Blaine got a glimpse of those sparkling blue eyes and it took everything he had to not pounce on Kurt in a hug right then and there.

_Those eyes..._ Blaine thought to himself. _See, they're not just blue. They're different shades of blue. They always change, sometimes gray-blue, sometimes almost periwinkle, sometimes sky-blue...right now they're my favorite, slightly turquoise, and the way they sparkle..._

Then it hit him. He knew just what to get Kurt for Christmas.

"Oh, it's really nothing," Blaine assured Kurt. The countertenor nodded slowly, studying Blaine for a second.

"So...how about that French?" Kurt asked, pulling a pencil out of his bag.

"Yeah...right..." Blaine said, trying to remember what he had due in French. That proved easier said than done, because Blaine couldn't get the thought of what he was gonna give Kurt out of his mind.

And though he didn't show it, Kurt was equally obsessing over what he was gonna get Blaine.

* * *

><p>A few days, and countless hours of Warblers rehearsal and studying for finals later, the two boys found themselves in Blaine's room doing homework.<p>

"So, Wes wanted to change our duet a little," Blaine said as he looked over to Kurt.

Kurt kept his head down at his book, but looked quite annoyed. _The concert is in three days now, and he wants to make changes? _"What changes?"

"He says he wants us to dance and flirt around more."

Kurt looked up from his homework to raise his eyebrows at Blaine. "Oh really?"

Blaine shrugged as he returned his eyes to his Pre-Calc assignment. "He told a similar thing to Nick about his and Jeff's duet. Apparently it'd be 'really cute,'" he made quotation gestures with his fingers as he scoffed. "He's trying to appeal to the moms, I guess. They eat that shit up like crazy."

Kurt could understand this. Carole, his step-mom, always gushed over romantic comedies and cute Glee performances. And, okay, _maybe_ _he did too..._

"So, I mean, I'm fine with it, but I just wanted to make sure you don't feel uncomfortable with doing that," Blaine said, only slightly looking up from his homework to hide the hopeful expression he was sure he was wearing.

Kurt tried to hide his grin as he looked back down at his own homework. _Yes, of COURSE he wanted to do that during his performance with Blaine!_ And the fact that his family conveniently couldn't attend the concert just made the whole thing even more assuring. Carole's sister was holding a holiday party that evening, and insisted on meeting Burt. It took a little coaxing, but Kurt convinced his father that this concert was important enough to skip on said party. They'd already lost enough Warblers to holiday, and Kurt had heard from Finn that Caroole's sister was...well, let's just say that he probably wouldn't get along with her very well. "Blaine, why would I ever feel uncomfortable pretending to flirt like that with you?" Kurt laughed cooly. "You're probably the friend I feel most comfortable with."

"...Yeah?" Blaine looked up from his homework.

Kurt smiled up at him. "Of course." Blaine smiled and returned to his math.

_And try flirting a little more, so Blainers doesn't give up hope before it's too late! _

_Hm...maybe this is a good opportunity to try this flirting..._ Kurt thought to himself. "So, should we practice that now, or..."

Blaine once again looked up from his homework to see Kurt looking right back at him with a smile on his face.

"Uhhh..." Blaine stalled, suddenly somewhat nervous. Now that he thought about it, they had never really practiced their duet outside of glee club, let alone while flirting around. He cleared his throat and closed his textbook with a smile. "Sure, why not?"

Kurt smiled and placed his laptop aside, watching Blaine as he stood and walked over to his own laptop on his desk, flipping through songs until he got to "Baby, It's Cold Outside: Karaoke". The opening bars filled the room and Blaine waltzed over to Kurt, gesturing to the boy. Kurt smiled and flirtatiously rolled his eyes.

_**I really can't stay...**_

**But baby it's cold outside!**

_**I've got to go away...**_

**But baby it's cold outside!**

_**This evening has been-**_

**Been hoping that you'd drop in... **Blaine raised an eyebrow to Kurt.

_**So very nice...**_

**I'll hold your hands- they're just like ice!**

_**My mother will start to worry...**_

Kurt got up to walk to the door, only to be blocked by a pleading Blaine.

**Beautiful, what's your hurry?**

_**My father will be pacing the floor...**_

**Listen to the fireplace roar...**

_**So really I'd better scurry...**_

**Beautiful, please don't hurry! **Blaine pleaded to the slightly taller boy.

_**Well maybe just half a drink more... **_Kurt shrugged with a small smile.

**Put some records on while I pour!**

_**The neighbors might think...**_

**But baby, it's bad out there!**

_**Say, what's in this drink?**_

**No cabs to be had out there!**

_**I wish I knew how-**_

**Your eyes are like starlight now... **Blaine looked into those starry eyes and almost forgot the next lyrics.

_**To break this spell...**_

**I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell.**

Kurt sat down on the bed, crossing his legs. _**I ought to say no, no, no, sir...**_

**...Mind if I move in closer? **Blaine asked coyly, as he scooted up against Kurt.

_**At least I'm gonna say that I tried... **_Kurt smiled and turned away.

**What's the sense in hurting my pride?**

_**I really can't stay**_

**Baby don't hold out!**

**Oh, but it's cold outside!**

There was a short instrumental break, in which Blaine decided to pull Kurt up and twirl him around, before taking the taller boy into his arms.

_**I simply must go... **_

**But baby, it's cold outside!**

_**The answer is no! **_Kurt sang sternly, breaking away from Blaine.

**But baby, it's cold outside!**

_**This welcome has been-**_

**I'm lucky that you dropped in...**

_**So nice and warm...**_

Blaine dramatically gestured out the window, to a cold, bare campus.** Look out the window at that storm! **

Kurt giggled out the next line. _**My sister will be suspicious...**_

**Gosh, your lips look delicious... **Blaine sang, flirtatiously eyeing Kurt's lips.

_**My brother will be there at the door... **_

**Waves upon a tropical shore...**

_**My maiden aunt's mind is vicious- **_

Blaine pressed his finger to Kurt's lips, then to his own.

**Ooh, your lips ARE delicious!**

_**Well maybe just a cigarette more... **_Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine's ever-present theatrics.

**Never such a blizzard before!**

_**I've got to get home...**_ Kurt started making his way to the door.

**But baby, you'll freeze out there! **

_**Say, lend me your coat...**_

**It's up to your knees out there!**

_**You've really been grand-**_

**I thrill when you touch my hair... **

_**But don't you see?**_

**How can you do this thing to me? **Blaine looked up to Kurt with big puppy-dog eyes.

_**There's bound to be talk tomorrow... **_

**Think of my life long sorrow!**

_**At least there will be plenty implied...**_

**If you caught pneumonia and died! **Blaine gasped as he ran over to where Kurt was standing by the door.

Kurt shook his head sadly and he took Blaine's hands. _**I really can't stay...**_

**Get over that old out!**

_**Oh but it's cold outside! **_

Both boys were silent for a moment, hands in hands as they stood there by the door, when Kurt heard a familiar voice from the hallway.

"WOOO IT'S SNOWING!"

Kurt looked out the window. Sure, _technically_ it was snowing. There were scattered snowflakes falling from the sky, but they were few and melted as soon as they hit the ground. Kurt felt his heart sink a little in his chest. He knew that eventually they would get snow- Ohio generally got pretty heavy snowfalls. But it was already the 16th, and Kurt was beginning to worry it wouldn't arrive in time for Christmas. He always loved snow, despite popular belief. It made the dead feel of winter suddenly seem promising, somehow. _Romantic. _He couldn't think of many good movies that took place during the winter where it didn't snow. Unless it was in a tropical area, of course.

Blaine looked at the frowning boy. "Is everything alright, Kurt?"

Kurt nodded slowly. "Do you think we'll have a white Christmas?"

Blaine smiled at the inner child he heard in Kurt's voice. "I'm sure we will."

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's kinda awkward, but I just had to put "Baby It's Cold Outside" in there somewhere X] <strong>

**Also, I know my writing style might not be the most...entertaining, maybe, to read? But whenever I write a scene, I have to go in depth with everything, or else I feel it to be incomplete. Sorry if it bothers you! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6! **

**That's really all I'm gonna say. I'm sure you guys will figure out soon enough.**

**Also, I want to add that the only reason I'm uploading all at once right now is because I've had all this written for about a month now. At one point, I'm probably gonna take awhile to upload. School is coming soon, and I still have to write LOTS. This is NOT going to be a short story, I can tell you that right now. I know exactly where I'm going with this though, it's just the matter of writing it down.**

**And regarding typos and such, I only have WordPad, which doesn't have spellcheck. I know that's really no excuse, but I promise you I'm trying. I just tend to overlook things ._. **

**With that said, I don't own Glee or music or anything cool like that. Welp. **

* * *

><p>December 20th had finally rolled around and the Dalton grounds had indeed been covered in a thick blanket of snow, some of which found its way inside (probably with help from The Weasleys.) The halls smelled of hot chocolate and chai tea, and were decorated with all the expected adornments. A giant Christmas tree was put up in the commons, where the party was being held fairly soon.<p>

Meanwhile, Kurt was sitting in his dorm, re-thinking his plans for the night.

_I should just say I'm sick, and not go._ _Yeah, that's a good idea. Just push all this aside and go home._

He ran a nervous hand through his perfectly-styled hair. What if he'd just been making it all up? What if Blaine really _didn't_ like him, and the boys were just playing a cruel prank? No, Nick was much too sweet to let something like that happen... But everything was just happening so fast and what if Blaine had changed his mind since then and what if-

"Kurt?"

Kurt turned over to where Blaine was standing near the door.

"Hey," Blaine grinned.

Kurt returned the smile. "Hey Blaine."

"You ready for the party?"

Kurt opened his mouth to talk when Jeff appeared in the doorway.

"...Can I help you, Jeff?" He asked the nervous-looking boy.

"I, uh...I was gonna ask if you could talk, but you and Blai-"

"No, no," Kurt said, for once not minding if someone got in the way of him and Blaine, feeling rather anxious around said boy right now. "If it's important-"

Jeff nodded his head furiously, staring at the floor.

Kurt looked at this boy with confusion. "...Blaine, could you give us a minute?"

"Uh...sure. See you at the concert." He gave an awkward smile to the two boys and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"So, excited for your duet with Nick?" Kurt asked, motioning for Jeff to sit on his bed.

Jeff sat down and just nodded in response, staring at the floor.

There was along pause, then Kurt asked, "so...what did you wanna talk about, Jeff?"

"I..." Jeff started, looking nervous. "...Kurt, when did you know you were gay?"

Kurt raised his brow, almost amused by the question. "I guess I always _knew, _but I never really came open to terms with it until, maybe, last year. ...Why do you ask?"

Jeff stared at the wall in front of him, as if it were a riddle. "I think like this guy...but I..."

Kurt studied the boy. "...You like Nick, don't you?"

Jeff just continued staring at the wall. "No...well, yes, I guess. But..."

"For how long have you liked Nick, Jeff?" Kurt asked.

"I mean...it just occured to me yesterday, but...I don't know, maybe...two years now?"

Kurt was at a loss for words. _Two years? And he never told anybody?_

"But...I don't know if I _LIKE him_ like him, you know? Cuz' he's my best friend...and we've just always been really close, like since seventh grade, and then I started getting these feelings for him a few years ago...but I don't know if they're _actually _feelings, you know?"

Jeff rubbed his temple before continuing. "I mean, I still think girls are hot, and I don't know if I'm even attracted to any other guys, but...whenever he smiles at me...whenever he holds my hand..."

"You get butterflies in the back of your throat?" Kurt said dreamily, thinking about Blaine.

Jeff smiled. "Yeah...And my chest feels all warm and fuzzy. And even when I'm saddest...I'll see his smile, and...everything in the world is just perfect."

Kurt smiled sadly at his lovesick friend, before David and Thad peeked in the door.

"Hey Kurt, Jeff, it'd be best if you start heading down to the commons now. Everybody's waiting."

"Yeah, sure David. Give us a minute?"

David was about to say something when Thad nudged him to look at the teary-eyed Jeff. David nodded in response. "Hurry up, though."

Kurt nodded and the boys left the room.

"Well," Kurt said, as he stood up, "Nick is very understanding. I'm sure he wouldn't freak out if you told him you liked him."

Jeff looked up at Kurt, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Kurt asked as Jeff stood.

"I don't...I don't even..."

Kurt gave Jeff a confused look as they walked down the hall. "...Is Nick gay, or..."

"I didn't _think_ so..."

He paused to take a deep breath. "He'd dated a few girls in the past, like we all did in Middle School, so I just assumed he was just a really bubbly straight guy." Jeff took a shaky breath before continuing. "Then yesterday, Nick was telling me how an old family friend of his from Austria likes him...his name's Paul, I think. They talk on Facebook and Skype all the time. Nick's going to Austria for Christmas this year to visit family, and he said that Paul asked him on a date, and...he looked really happy about it. I should have seen it coming lately, he's been ranting on about _Paul_ this, and _Paul_ that, and 'Jeffy, Paul plays _this, _and he can do _that, _and isn't he just _so_ sweet?'"

Jeff scoweled and Kurt could tell how much Jeff already hated this "Paul" guy.

"And I was just staying up all night because up until then I didn't think I actually _really _liked him, but the thought of him running off with some European guy who can do _this _and _that_, just...I _hated_ it. I'm...jealous, I guess. 'Cuz, you know, I'm not like that, I can't play sports or any instruments. Sure, I can sing or whatever, but I can't paint pictures or write him poetry... Kurt, how in _hell _am I supposed to compete with that?"

Kurt gave a sympathetic look to his friend, who was now anxiously loosening the pefect knot in his tie, which Kurt was sure Nick fixed up earlier that morning.

"Well...you know, Nick acts as if he likes you," Kurt supplied.

Jeff laughed harshly. "Don't even TRY to raise my hopes up with that, Kurt. I've tried to make myself believe that. He acts like that around everybody, and you know that. See, that's the thing...his emotions are never clear, unless they're super extreme, you know? He just always wears that adorable smile, and he's just so...mysterious like that..."

And_ wow_. This was getting pretty deep, especially for Jeff.

Kurt smiled sadly as they reached the doors to the commons. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I really don't think a long-distance relationship between Nick and Paul would work out. He'll be back before school starts again, right?" Jeff nodded. "Well, ask him out."

Jeff looked up at Kurt, eyes wide. "You...you really think I should?"

Kurt smiled. "You guys would be a very cute couple."

Jeff smiled a little as they entered the commons.

"Finally!" Nick grinned as he ran up to them. "We were wondering how long you were gonna take!" He grabbed Jeff's hand to lead them to the Warblers, and Kurt could almost feel the blond boy's heart flutter.

He almost jumped as a familiar hand tapped him on the shoulder.

"You ready?" Blaine smiled.

Kurt smiled back. Yes, he was ready. For the Christmas party, of course.

After Wes finally quieted down everyone in the commons with an intro speech, the Warblers, mounted on the platform in the front of the commons, gave their concert. They started off with "Carol Of The Bells," which Kurt loved so much he vowed to put it on a CD. Blaine sang the lead to "Very Merry Christmas," a song Kurt didn't like until he'd heard Blaine sing it. Then it was Nick and Jeff's duet for "Last Christmas". Jeff seemed nervous as hell to have a solo, especially alongside Nick. Nick sang with a coy smile on his face, giving the occasional shrug. He seemed completely oblivious to how much Jeff was blushing, giving the lyrics so much truth. About halfway into the song, Nick gave Jeff a look as if to say, _"come on, you're awesome, just go for it," _and nudged him a little. A big smile grew on Jeff's face as he sang the rest of the song to the slightly-shorter boy with confidence.

After a great applause, The Weasleys stood before the crowd.

"And now here's another one-"

"-For all you romantics out there."

They winked before returning to the group to pull Kurt and Blaine in front of the Warblers. Kurt and Blaine shared a small laugh before the opening to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" started. They danced around each other, flirting and smiling. It was in their choreography, after all. But Wes, David, and the other boys could see right through it.

After they finished their duet, receiving many catcalls and even more applause from the audience, they broke into "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," with each Warbler having a solo line in it. Kurt went on to say whole performance went beautifully, when he really wasn't paying any attention to most of it.

After the performance, much socializing ensued in the commons. As the party came to an end and many goodbye hugs had been given, Kurt was talking with Jeff and Nick (being some of the last boys still in the hall), when an eager-looking Blaine strode up to the trio. Kurt was mid-conversation with Nick when he caught the shorter boy's eye. "Hi Blaine!"

"Hey Kurt," Blaine grinned back. "Do you...have a minute?"

Kurt stopped a panic expression from covering his face with a smile. "Sure."

Nick and Jeff caught on instantly, and made their way out of the common. They pulled the remaining students along, promising them some of Nick's mom's Dalton-famous cookies she'd just sent. The great hall was soon empty, with just Kurt and Blaine standing near the Christmas tree.

"So...what is it, Blaine?" Kurt asked.

Blaine smiled softly and brought his hands forward from behind his back to reveal a small package wrapped in simple black tissue paper and a blue bow-tie style bow.

"Merry Christmas," Blaine smiled.

Kurt gasped at the sight of the gift. It looked elegant and promising, and when you looked closely, you saw how much care was put into it. The wrapping paper was slightly torn on one end and it had a fairly good amount of tape on the sides. He could tell Blaine wrapped it himself, especially when he saw the hand-written tag that hung from the bow. In that unmistakable calligraphy, Kurt could see how much love Blaine put in the gift.

_Wait, no, _he told himself. _Don't get your hopes up that high. It's just a Christmas present from the boy you've been in love with for awhile now, and who apparently fancies you as well. No biggie._

"So...are you gonna open it? Or you wanna just stare at it for awhile...?"

Kurt looked back up at Blaine. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

"Don't be sorry Kurt!" Blaine chuckled. "Just open it."

Kurt tenatively unwrapped the package, setting the paper on a nearby table. He opened the box and- _Oh my God..._

Kurt's jaw dropped as he stared at the contents of the box. Nestled in white wrapping paper was the most beautiful turquoise pashmina shawl he'd ever seen. And it wasn't just turquoise. If he looked closely, he could see slightly different colored threads coming together; light greens, grays, periwinkles, and even a few strands of silvery material were present, making the scarf sparkle ever-so-slightly in the light.

Kurt was speechless. "Oh my God... It's...it's so..."

Blaine smiled. "You like it?"

Kurt shot his eyes up at Blaine. "Do I-Blaine, I love it!" He hugged the other boy, laughing in happiness. Soon after, their laughing drifted off, and the hug felt more...

_And there goes my IQ. Well, It's now or never, _Kurt thought to himself.

He pulled away from Blaine. "I...I have a present for you too."

Kurt placed the scarf into Blaine's hands. Blaine watched confusedly Kurt as he walked across the room to the platform he had just performed on with the Warblers earlier that evening. Kurt pulled a boombox out from behind a curtain and plugged his iPod into it. He flipped through songs before he got to the one he needed right now.

Kurt took a deep breath before pressing play.

"This is for you, Blaine."

Blaine still stood where Kurt had left him, by the Christmas tree on the other side of the room. He stared at Kurt intently as a slow melody started. When he realized what song it was, he almost forgot to breathe. He caught his breath yet again when Kurt began to sing.

_**If I fell in love with you,**_

_**Would you promise to be true,**_

_**And help me understand?**_

_**'Cause I've been in love before...**_

_**And I found that love was more**_

_**Than just holding hands...**_

Blaine placed the scarf on a nearby table before taking a few careful steps towards Kurt.

_**If I give my heart to you,**_

_**I must be sure**_

_**From the very start,**_

_**That you would love me more than her...**_

Kurt smiled a little at a very surprised Blaine, who was still slowly making his way over to Kurt.

_**If I trust in you, oh please,**_

_**Don't run and hide.**_

_**If I love you too, oh please,**_

_**Don't hurt my pride like her...**_

_**'Cause I couldn't stand the pain,**_

_**And I would be sad if our new love was in vain...**_

Blaine had finally reached Kurt, who nervously grabbed Blaine's hands as if they'd touched for the first time.

_**So I hope you see that I**_

_**Would love to love you,**_

_**And that she will cry**_

_**When she learns we are two,**_

_**'Cause I couldn't stand the pain...**_

_**And I would be sad if our new love was in vain...**_

He took one more step closer to Blaine.

_**So I hope you see that I**_

_**Would love to love you...**_

During the brief instrumental break, the boys stared into each other's eyes. Blaine looked Kurt up and down, as if to make sure he was really there. He moved to stroke Kurt's cheek, making the taller boy shiver.

_**If I fell in love with you...**_

As Kurt finished on that high note, their bodies were close together, their faces only inches apart. The music drifted off, and they were left in silence. It was as if nothing else even existed. Ever.

Blaine was sure he was either dead or dreaming as he moved his hands to the boy's hips. Kurt's eyes lingered on Blaine's lips for a few more seconds, making sure the boy was getting the message. He looked back up into those hazel-brown eyes one more time...

"I...I love you, Blaine," Kurt said breathlessly before closing the space between them.

The second Kurt's lips met Blaine's, it was like a fire started in his mouth, moved all the way through his head, and trickled down to his feet, making the boy raise on his toes ever-so-slightly. And, oh God, it was happening. It was finally happening. Kurt was kissing Blaine and Blaine was kissing Kurt, and it was too perfect to be true. But it was true. Kurt really was moving his soft lips slowly and carefully over Blaine's slightly chapped ones in their open-mouthed kiss. Blaine tasted like the gingerbread cookies he must have had earlier that evening, and when he responded to Kurt's careful tongue...it took everything Kurt had not to moan and melt right then and there. Blaine moved both his hands up to cup Kurt's face, still having doubt that the boy was really there. But there he was. Oh, he was. He somehow tasted like winter, yet, contrastingly, his lips were welcoming and warm. The blood rushed to Blaine's head and his ears felt like they were gonna just fly off his body and Blaine kept wondering if this was really only a kiss.

No, wait...it wasn't _just a kiss_. It was a his long-desired first kiss with the first boy he knew he loved.

When they pulled away, Blaine let out a breath he didn't know he was holding for that good 10 seconds. His hands were still rested on Kurt's soft cheeks. With another look into those beautiful blue eyes...

"I love you too, Kurt. I love you so, so much, and you don't know how long I've wanted to do that..." Blaine said, breathlessly. He drifted his hands on the lapel of Kurt's blazer before grasping his hands tightly in between the boys.

"Kurt...will you please go out with me? As in, be my boyfriend?"

Kurt was so taken by how much emotion Blaine put into those few words that his voice caught in his throat. He'd been dreaming for Blaine to say that for so long, and actually hearing him say it now...

"...K-Kurt? Please answer me," Blaine pleaded, wondering if he said the right thing.

Kurt, unable to hold back any longer, closed the space between them again, this time just a bit deeper than the first, sending heat pulsing through his body.

"Yes," he breathed as he pulled away from Blaine, still inches away from his face. "Yes, yes, yes, Blaine...I love you so much, and just...hearing that and...I swear, I'd live this moment as my last."

Blaine smiled, almost to tears from how happy he was. "Me too," he whispered before pulling Kurt into another heart-stopping kiss.

* * *

><p>"Awww, they are so cute at that age, aren't they, Matthew?" Greg asked from where he, Matt, Nick, and Jeff all stood outside the commons, peeking through the half-open door.<p>

"Yes, Gregory. So very cute," Matt pretended to melt like a mother.

Nick rolled his eyes at the twins before looking back into the room. "They are perfect, though, aren't they Jeff?" Nick dreamily watched the new couple.

"Yeah...really perfect..." Jeff murmured, though he really wasn't referring to said couple.

The Weasleys gave another mockingly dreamy sigh before turning back to Nick and Jeff. "Well, we gotta split!"

"Yeah, gotta get ready for our trip to Hawaii!"

"Girls, sun, bikinis, here we come!"

Nick cocked an eyebrow to them. "Just be sure not to burn your ginger complexion too bad."

"Even better!" Matt brightened up even more.

"Yeah, chicks are such suckers when it comes to helping a poor, pale, American boy apply some sunscreen on his body," Greg wiggled his eyebrows.

Nick just scoffed at the boys. "You guys are crazy."

"Mhm, this is coming from the boy who has a certain family friend living in Austria he's TOTALLY gonna get it on with this year," Matt raised his eyebrows at the now blushing Nick.

"What's his name again? Paul?"

Jeff really wanted to punch those two gingers in the face right now.

"Ready to get funky with this European boy?"

"Get some!"

Nick folded his arms over his chest, trying to hold back a grin. "Don't you guys have a plane to catch?"

Greg sighed. "It's true, Matt. Can't keep those ladies waitin' any longer."

Mat nodded, pressing a hand to his chest. "I agree. To leave any later would just be a sin."

"Happy Christmas!" They smiled to the boys before darting down the hall.

Nick scoffed at the twins. "Honestly, I don't know how they have a high enough GPA to stay at this school."

Jeff smiled in response. "So...excited for break?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, dreamy look in his eyes. "Austria should be fun..."

_Yeah, SURE, _Jeff thought, glaring at his feet.

"What are you doing this year, Jeff? Gonna visit your grandmother again?"

Jeff chuckled. "God, I hope not. I felt like I was a guest on The View when she made me stay for her book club."

This made Nick laugh, and Jeff couldn't help but wonder if he laughed like that with everyone...that wholesome, devoted, yet somewhat petit laugh...

_Wishful thinking is a real let down sometimes..._

Jeff slowly raised his head from where he was staring at his feet. "I...I'm really gonna miss you, you know."

Nick tured his head to Jeff. "Really? What's to miss?" He joked.

_When you fix my tie in the morning because I never really learned how, the perfect coffee that you make every morning, when you grab my hand and I feel that connection forming between us, your eyes, your smile, your voice..._

_"You..."_

Nick tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

Jeff opened his mouth to answer, when he heard identical voices from above.

"Hey-y boys!"

And there were Matt and Greg, poking out of the oversized air vent directly above Nick and Jeff. They held out a fishing pole, hanging from which was...

"Come on now!"

"Pucker up!"

"You're under the mistletoe!"

"You know the rules!"

And sure enough, there was a little sprig of mistletoe with a red ribbon tied around it, hanging directly over Nick and Jeff.

Jeff stared up at the devilish twig, scared out of his wits. Nick just laughed. "Alright Jeff, _pucker up!"_

Jeff lowered his head at Nick. "W-what?"

"Come on Jeff, it's all a game," Nick said, as if he was asking Jeff to make a move in chess. "They're not gonna shut up until I kiss you."

"O-okay..." Jeff said as he slowly pressed his lips against Nick's.

It was a dry kiss, only slightly longer than a peck. But Nick tasted like Christmas and his lips were soft, and when they pulled away, Jeff had to blink a few times before his vision became clear again. He'd kissed girls before but...this was the first kiss he'd ever had that later made him feel empty not having more.

The Weasleys catcalled and high-fived before disappearing back into the vent. Nick started laughing again at the boys semi-normal behavior before turning back to Jeff. "Well, that was interesting."

_More like amazing.._. "Uhhh, yeah. It, uh, it sure was." He smiled at Nick.

"Now, I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, Jeff," Nick started, "but you are a _very _good kisser. I'm sure any girl would be happy to have you." He raised his eyebrows at his friend.

"Uh...thanks, Nick," Jeff said.

Nick smiled. "Well, I have to go meet my parents, but have a great Christmas, Jeff." He hugged his best friend before making his way to the dorms.

"Oh, and Jeff?" He called back. "Don't take the highway in this blizzard, okay? Take the back road, it's much safer."

"Oh, yeah, sure thing Nick. Merry Christmas."

Nick waved before running to his dorm to grab his stuff. As soon as he was out of eyeshot, Jeff let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and tried to figure out what just happened.

_I just kissed Nick...and he said I was a good kisser..._

Jeff backed up and slumped against the wall, banging the back of his head against it repeatedly.

_Why does he have to like that stupid Austrian kid? Why can't he like me? And now he's gonna be there for a week and they're probably gonna kiss, and he's gonna fall in love, and it's going to be all super romantic, and-_

He slid down the wall and tried to rub the thought of Nick holding hands and kissing _that asshole _Paul out of his head, but it had stained his mind.

* * *

><p>"You all set?" Blaine asked Kurt as he helped him load his suitcase into his car.<p>

Kurt nodded slowly, wrapping the scarf Blaine had just given him around his neck. Blaine was going to New York with his parents for Christmas and most of the break, so this was most likely the last time he'd see Blaine in awhile. Sure, he was ecstatic to see his friends back in Lima, but not being able to see his new boyfriend for two weeks was gonna be tough. But he'd power through it. Just like he powered through the urge to attack Blaine's face for about a month now.

Blaine trailed his hand down Kurt's new scarf, loving how his eyes somehow reflected all the colors present in the weave. "I'll miss you."

Kurt smiled sadly. "I'll miss you too, Blaine."

He pulled Blaine into a hug, inhaling the scent of gingerbread and some other scent that Kurt could only describe as "Blaine".

"I love you. So, so much," Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear.

"I love you too," Kurt whispered back before pressing a soft kiss to his boyfriend's lips. He got into his Cadillac Escalade and proceeded to pull out of the parking lot-

"Hey!" Blaine called before Kurt was fully out of his parking space. "Put your seat belt on!"

Kurt often forgot to put his seat belt on, since he was mostly just running short errands around town. Not to mention he was a very careful driver. He rolled his eyes before buckling it.

Blaine gave a thumbs up and started clapping as Kurt smiled before driving towards the highway.

Blaine walked into the dorm building and headed towards the kitchen, craving a cup of Hot Cocoa.

_Kurt was his boyfriend. After waiting for so long, Kurt was ACTUALLY HIS BOYFRIEND. _The thought of it made Blaine grin so much, it was beginning to hurt.

He approached the kitchen to see Jeff, sitting on one of the stools with a pained expression on his face.

"You okay, Jeff?"

Jeff looked up at Blaine. Telling Kurt about his feelings was one thing, but telling someone else...

"I'm fine," Jeff assured him as he stood on his feet. "So, you and Kurt are finally together, huh?" He tried to change the subject.

Blaine smiled again. "Yeah. Finally."

Jeff smiled back. "Where is Kurt, anyways?"

"Oh, he left for Lima a few minutes ago."

"Too bad you won't see him for awhile," Jeff sympathized.

Blaine shrugged. "Just gives me more time to miss him. Which means seeing him again after break will be even better."

Jeff nodded dreamily. "I know what you mean."

Blaine cocked an eyebrow. "Thinking about someone in particular?"

Jeff fiddled his thumbs. "I suppose you could say that..."

"...You gonna tell me who it is?"

Jeff just looked uncomfortable, so Blaine turned his eyes up to look out the window. "Wow. It's like a blizzard out there."

"Yeah. Nick advised not to take the highway, with all the ice on the roads."

Blaine felt a sharp jolt through his spine. No doubt Kurt took the highway. He hated anything that took too long, especially driving.

Suddenly, something didn't feel right...

"...What's wrong, Blaine?" Jeff asked, reading the worried expression on Blaine's face.

"Do you...think Kurt'll be alright?" Blaine asked.

Jeff blinked in confusion. "What are you..- OH, he's driving, isn't he?"

Blaine nodded. He tried to shake the heavy weight of worry off his shoulders. "I mean, he's a careful driver and I'm sure he'll be fine, but...maybe he's not on the highway yet... I should call him."

Jeff furrowed his brow in question. "But he's driving, will he pick up?"

"Yeah, he always pulls over and picks up." It was true. Kurt never hesitated to pick up his phone, no matter what. _"It could be something important,"_ he always said, usually referring to his dad.

Blaine pressed number four on his speed dial and held the phone up to his ear. It rang a full eight times before he got Kurt's voicemail.

_"Hey, it's Kurt! Sing me your song after the beep!"_

Blaine hung up and quickly re-dialed.

"He didn't pick up?"

Blaine just shook his head.

"Blaine, it's probably nothing. He's probably just too occupied with driving through the snow tha-"

"Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?" Blaine asked as soon as he heard a click.

_"Blaine...I c-...I don't..."_

_Oh God, no, Kurt..._"Kurt, are you alright?" Blaine asked, now thoroughly worried.

_"No...hurts...Blaine..."_

"Kurt...were you in an accident?"

_"Outta nowhere...just..." _Kurt drifted off, sounding tired.

_What? What was going on? _"Kurt? Kurt!"

_"So tired, Blaine..."_

_...Tired? _"Kurt, no, stay awake, stay with me!"

But all Blaine could hear was the sound of the highway. He stood there with the phone by his ear, mouth gaping open in shock.

* * *

><p><strong>AHHH! I know, I know, but just bear with me. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. ...I think... Hm. <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**This is probably gonna be the last update for awhile, since I need to write it. Up through this chapter has been written for about a month now. I _was_ considering leaving this as a cliffhanger for a little longer, but I know how much people hate that, and I thought this was a good spot to leave off on while I write more. **

**That being said, I don't own Glee. And on to chapter seven!**

* * *

><p>Kurt usually loved the serenity of driving at night. The steady motion plus the darkness was just enough to calm his nerves and let him think. He would totally be thinking about all the events which occured earlier that evening, if all this damn snow wasn't getting in the way. Kurt turned his windshield wiper up all the way, but the white stuff kept obnoxiously piling up on his window.<p>

Then it all happened at once. Kurt heard someone behind him honk their horn and he looked in his rearview mirror, to see a car on swerving on the ice in his direction, going at least 80mph.

Before he had time to react, he felt a jerk from behind him. He slammed on his brakes, only to slide on the ice for a good hundred feet. He squeezed his eyes shut in horror as the car slid and bumped in ways it never had before.

Once the car had stopped moving, Kurt allowed himself to open his eyes, and noticed a throbbing in his head. He reached up to feel for a bruise, when he noticed the ceiling of his car was unnaturally close to the top of his head...and...wait...

It took Kurt a moment to realize that he was _upside down._

He un-buckled his seat belt and tried to climb out of his car through the door, but halfway throught, he found that all his strength was gone. He lay there, full head and torso exposed to the open air.

Everything hurt. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. Kurt didn't know what to do. He could barely keep his eyes open from the wind and the coldness.

Then he noticed his phone had been ringing. He retrieved his phone from his pocket and saw that it was Blaine. A wave of hope spread over him as he answered the phone. But that only lasted so long before an extreme feeling of drowsiness filled his body.

_"Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?" _Blaine asked.

"Blaine...I c-...I don't..."

Kurt tried to tell Blaine what happened, but he could barely make out a simple phrase right now.

_"Kurt, are you alright?"_

"No...hurts...Blaine..." Kurt was crying now, from the pain, from the cold, from his inabilities to speak.

_"Kurt...were you in an accident?"_

"Outta nowhere...just..." Kurt tried to explain before that sleepy feeling hit him full force.

_What? What was going on? "Kurt? Kurt!"_

"So tired, Blaine..."

_"Kurt, no, stay awake, stay with me!"_

But Kurt just couldn't stay awake any longer. He dropped his head into the white fluffy stuff that seemed so inviting right now, and blacked out.

* * *

><p>Jeff reached out to Blaine's shoulder. "Blaine...what happened?"<p>

Blaine could barely make out words as he hung up. "Kurt...Kurt...he..."

Jeff's eyes widened. "Oh no...come on Blaine, we have to find him!"

Blaine nodded as the two boys ran to the parking lot. Blaine headed for his car when Jeff pulled him by the sleeve.

"No, I'll drive. You just look for him, okay?"

Blaine just nodded as he got into the passenger's seat of Jeff's red Maserati GranTurismo. As soon as Jeff got in the car, he started it up with no hesitation and sped out of the Dalton parking lot.

Blaine was breathing much too heavily by the time they got on the Boulevard. He felt the need to cry. He wanted to cry. But the tears wouldn't come. He didn't even know what to think now. He didn't want to think about what happened to Kurt, he just wanted to find him, _now._

"Blaine. Blaine!" Jeff said, looking at Blaine when they stopped at a traffic light. "He's fine, alright?"

"But...but what if...he can't-!...I just..." Blaine was hyperventhilating. _This couldn't be happening. So much had happened in the past month, in the past night, the universe couldn't be doing this to him, he di-_

_SMACK!_

Blaine blinked a few seconds before he realized that Jeff just slapped him. Not very hard at all, but surprising nonetheless. Especially coming from Jeff.

"LOOK AT ME BLAINE," Jeff said as strictly as he dared. "KURT IS FINE. FREAKING OUT LIKE THIS IS NOT HELPING ANYONE. IN FACT, IF ANYTHING, IT'S MAKING IT WORSE. KURT WILL BE ALRIGHT, JUST CALM. DOWN."

Blaine dropped his head down and started breathing normally again. "You're right. I just...it's so..."

Jeff held up a finger to Blaine. "Nothing until we find him, got it?"

Blaine nodded as the light turned green and Jeff started driving again, making his way onto the highway. They hadn't even been driving for five minutes when Blaine saw a black car toppled over on the side of the highway that looked strikingly like Kurt's.

As soon as Jeff pulled over, Blaine ran to the driver's side of the car and felt his heart lurch at the sight of the scarf that was wrapped around the neck of the figure before him.

"Jeff, call 911," Blaine ordered. Jeff did as he was told, stunned at the sight before them.

As Jeff started explaining their situation into the phone, Blaine dropped to his knees. He took the hand of the frozen boy before him. "Kurt...Kurt, wake up. Please wake up, Kurt."

Kurt's face was embedded in the snow, but his right hand was still clutching his phone.

Blaine was about to start crying in desperation, when he remembered what Jeff had told him. He took a calming breath and turned Kurt over onto his back. He gently cupped the boy's pale face, as if to thaw it out.

"The paramedics should be here soon," Jeff said. "In the meanwhile, they said try to wake him up as best you can."

Blaine nodded before he leaned down to whisper into Kurt's ear. "Kurt...I'm here. Please...please wake up."

Blaine stared at him for a few good seconds before deciding to try something else. "You know, when you said you loved me tonight, I stopped breathing. I felt like everything was perfect for the first time in my life. I felt like I wanted to hug you and never let you go. After all that time of wanting you, I finally have you."

He paused for a second, wondering if any of this was processing in Kurt's mind, before beginning again.

"I...I remember when I first saw you. I was heading to our Warbler's performance when you stopped me on the staircase. At first I was annoyed because I was already late and I thought you were just a little freshman wanting attention, but when I turned around and saw those blue eyes...I swear my heart stopped for a second. That's why I pulled you through the hallway with me, Kurt. It was so hard to believe you were actually real.

"And ever since, whenever I get a flash of your eyes, my heart flutters... If you don't wake up Kurt, if you don't _open your eyes_..." Blaine finally let the tears fall. He leaned forward to rest his head against Kurt's shoulder. Jeff felt close to tears, and turned away, not able to stand the sight of what might be happening.

_"Wuh..."_

Blaine snapped his head up at the sound he swore he heard emit from Kurt's mouth. "You don't have to say anything, Kurt. Just open your eyes."

He stared at the boy, about to lose all hope, when Kurt's eyelids fluttered just the slightest bit.

Blaine's breath caught in his throat. "Yes, Kurt, like that! Just open your eyes, please!"

Jeff snapped his head around so quickly, he might have gotten whiplash. He sank on his knees in the snow next to the two boys, exchanging a hopeful glance with Blaine. Kurt stayed motionless for another few good seconds, when he slowly opened his eyes.

"...Blaine?" Kurt asked.

Blaine couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh. "Yes. Yes, it's me, Kurt."

Kurt looked around a little. "No offense Blaine, but...did you really have to take that long? I mean, I'm freezing."

Blaine scoffed. "Did I have to- Shut up!" he breathed before kissing Kurt square on his smile, sending that fire running through his veins yet again.

* * *

><p>Jeff and Blaine found themselves in the hospital at precisely 12:56am. After the ambulance arrived, they loaded Kurt in on a stretcher. The paramedics kept going frantic and asking all these pointless questions that increased Kurt's angst just <em>that much more.<em>

_Yes, I'm fine. No, I don't feel any pain in my lower abdomen. Yes, I can move my feet. You are holding up two fingers, it is December 21st, my name is Kurt Hummel, and NO, I have NOT been drinking._

Kurt assured everyone over and over that, besides an array of scratches and bruises, he felt completely fine. Marvelous, even, for waking up to Blaine's voice.

But since he did receive a minor concussion, the doctors decided it necessary to run some tests.

So there Blaine sat, next to Jeff in the lobby of the hospital, waiting to be able to talk to Kurt. They barely spoke to one another, tangled in their own messes of thought.

_I could've lost him tonight... _Blaine thought. _This is crazy, all that's been happening. It feels like some sort of a dream. Then again, Kurt is a dream of mine that I've been waiting to come true for some time now..._

_I know it's selfish to think of myself right now, but...I actually kissed Nick. _Jeff thought. _And...I couldn't even tell what he was thinking. He probably didn't take any thought to it, but...it felt so much more true than any other kisses I've ever had._

"Mr. Anderson? Mr. Sterling?"

Blaine and Jeff looked up to see a kind doctor in his early 40's. "I'm Dr. Bradley. Would you like to come with me to see Mr. Hummel?"

Both boys nodded and got up from their chairs, following the doctor down the hall and into Kurt's room. He opened the door to reveal Kurt, clad only in a hospital nightgown, deep under the scratchy covers of the uncomfortable-looking hospital bed. He wore a tired, yet annoyed, look on his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest.

When he saw the boys walk into the room, he smiled at them before looking to the doctor. "So, what's the verdict?" He asked, audibly annoyed.

"Well," Dr. Bradley said, looking over his clipboard, "it's miraculous you survived, especially given your condition. Some minor head trauma, which resulted in the drowsiness, but other than a few marks and that large bruise on your hip there, I'd say you're fine. Better than most of the people in this building."

"Finally _someone_ understands..." Kurt mumbled. "If only you could have told them that _before_ the CAT scans and blood tests..."

"Wait, how is that possible?" Jeff interjected, a little confused. "His car rolled over into a ditch and _crashed into a tree_," Jeff motioned with his hands for emphasis.

The doctor chuckled a little before continuing. "Yes, it was a pretty rough crash, so sorry about that. But this is not unheard of." He gestured to Kurt with his pen, "you're very lucky, m'boy. Most people...well, let's just say thank God you were wearing your seatbelt! Who knows what..._state _you'd be in right now if you weren't..."

Kurt felt a jolt through his mind. _If it hadn't been for Blaine, he probably wouldn't have even put his seatbelt on. _Kurt turned his head back over to Blaine, who had the same chilly expression of realization on his face.

"But anyways, enough of that. Do you feel well enough to go home, m'boy?"

Kurt looked back to Dr. Bradley. "Uh...yes, yes, I really do."

"Well alright then," the doctor smiled. "I'll tell them to put you on the 'out' list, and you're all set. Your clothes are over there on the table when you're ready to change. Merry Christmas, boys."

"You too," Jeff replied.

"Thank you," Blaine said.

The doctor gave one more smile before closing the door behind him as he walked back down the hall.

"Uh...I'll leave you two alone," Jeff muttered, awkwardly walking out to the hall.

"Thanks, Jeff." Kurt said.

Once they were alone, Blaine and Kurt stared into each others eyes for a brief moment before Blaine launched himself onto Kurt in a tight hug.

"I...I can't believe it..." Blaine said into Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt began to cry. "Blaine...if it hadn't been for you-"

"I know."

"I could be-"

"I know, Kurt," Blaine said, digging his face further into the crook of Kurt's neck.

Kurt pulled him up to look at him in the eyes. "Are you crying again?" He asked Blaine with a sad smile on his face.

Blaine sniffed. "It's just..." He took a deep breath before continuing, "it's a LOT to take in for one night."

Kurt smiled. "I know what you mean. What is it with all this shit happening to us? It feels like one of those really lame dramas on primetime television."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Blaine chuckled as he lay his head on Kurt's chest.

"So..." He continued after a slight pause, "if this _is_ one of those crappy shows on TV, is this the time where I say something sweet to you and give you a kiss?"

Kurt giggled. "That seems to be where this is going."

"Well, let's see..." Blaine thought as his eyes caught sight of the scarf he'd given to Kurt earlier that evening on the table to his right. He walked over to pick it up and wrap it gently once around Kurt's neck.

"I know how much you like it when your wardrobe matches. My sister works in designing clothes and stuff, and I asked her to make me this...so it would match your eyes." He pressed a soft kiss on the tip of Kurt's nose.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt said before pulling Blaine into a long kiss. "You always know what to say," Kurt breathed out when they broke apart.

Blaine smiled. "I only try."

The rest of that night was quite interesting. Kurt's family ran into the hospital and started sobbing at the sight of him, though he assured them he was fine and insisted Carole that, no, he didn't need any help getting his clothes on.

_Oh, and what a perfect opportunity for Blaine to meet Kurt's dad._

All sarcasm aside, Burt actually did seem to hit it off with Blaine.

"You're the one who called us, right? Blaine, is it?" Burt asked.

"Yes sir, Blaine Anderson," Blaine nodded.

"So uh, what happened? You just called Kurt to make sure he was safe?" Burt asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, yes I did. Jeff informed me that the highway wasn't very safe at the time and I decided to warn Kurt. Unfortunately, he'd already gotten on the highway, but luckily we found him not after long."

"Hm. Well, thank you. You seem like a good kid. I'm happy for Kurt and you."

"Thank you, sir-"

"But lemme just make one thing clear: You push him around, disrespect him, I'll have you know that I have a .45 in my nightstand drawer."

"Dad!" Kurt screamed from behind the curtain where he was changing.

Blaine just gave a chaste smile. "I understand, Mr. Hummel. I assure you, I have no intention of hurting Kurt in any way. But if I ever do so, you have my word that I will present myself at your disposal immediately."

Burt looked the kid up and down with a skeptical eye."Hm. Okay. Just...treat him well, alright? And uh, take it easy." Burt added as he awkwardly patted Blaine on the shoulder.

"Oh, I will." Blaine smiled again to Burt.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: YES, it is possible for Kurt's injuries to be as such. I read an article of this woman whose car was rolled off the highway and down a hill, and she walked away with only a few cuts and bruises. shrug **

**Just a reminder: IT DOES NOT END HERE. I know where I'm going with this, it's just the matter of finding free time to write it all down. **

**Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! I did NOT expect reviews and story subscriptions like these, so...thanks! :D **

**I'll update as soon as possible, but I'm going to say it again, school's coming up and it SUCKS. Trust me, I want to update as much as you guys want me to. But oh well, I'm going to end my rant there and try to jot some of this down. **

**Thanks again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I just want to say thank you SO much to everyone who has reviewed and/or subscribed to this story. I'm so glad you guys like it and I'll try to find more time to update sooner. **

**Also, I just want to mention my dear friend Lori. Every time I write something, I send it to her before posting it here. So she's kind of like the editor-in-chief for this fic. I just thought he deserved some recognition, because if it weren't for her, I probably would have never even posted this story. **

**Her tumblr is oldsockdrawer[.]tumblr[.]com, in case anyone was interested. **

**Oh, and mine is roozmahree[.]tumblr[.]com, also, in case anyone was interested. Lawl. **

**Again, thank you so much for the reviews and such! They really give me that extra encouragement to continue this story :) **

**Anyways, I do not own anything, as usual. **

* * *

><p>Winter break went by fast. Kurt got his car fixed up, and hung out with his friends almost every day he wasn't having family time. They asked about Dalton and The Warblers and Blaine. Mostly Blaine, though. And when Mercedes or anyone else invited him to gush, oh boy did he GUSH. He told them all about how cute Blaine was and how much hotter he looked when his curls were free, and how he always sang to Kurt and held his hand.<p>

After Blaine came back from New York on the 28th, he took Kurt on numerous dates. He paid almost every time, much to Kurt's protest. Yes, he knew that Kurt wasn't a charity case, and yes, he knew that Kurt didn't mind paying. But to finally be able to call Kurt his boyfriend made Blaine so happy, even simple things like buying him lunch made him ecstatic.

Currently, Kurt and Blaine were on Kurt's bed, curled up in each other's arms while listening to Kurt's iPod playlist. They were in conversation at one point, but at the moment they just lay there, kissing gently.

When they were quiet for a moment, Kurt decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for awhile now.

"Blaine?" he asked, his face nuzzled in his boyfriend's neck.

"Hm?" Blaine responded, pressing a kiss into Kurt's hair.

"I was just wondering...have you ever had a boyfriend?"

Blaine froze, not really wanting to think about this right now. Kurt could feel Blaine tensing, and immediately added, "you don't have to tell me, I was just really curious."

Blaine pulled away from Kurt slightly, just so he could lay on his side facing his boyfriend. He gave a deep sigh. "No, you deserve to know. You're my boyfriend," Blaine smiled softly, grabbing Kurt's hand and kissing his fingers.

He sighed once more before continuing. "His name was Grayson. Grayson Riley. He was a sophomore when I was a freshman. He was on the basketball team. He had blonde hair and brown eyes and was always so nice. Nothing that could compare to you, though," Blaine added quickly.

"Of course," Kurt smirked, trying to lighten the conversation a little. "Nothing could compare to me."

Blaine smiled back, before returning to the subject. "Well, Grayson was a good friend of mine since the beginning of freshman year. We became pretty close and...to make a long story short, I came out and we started going out that following summer. I thought he was great at first, but...he kept pushing me too much. At first I went with it, because, you know...it felt good, and I didn't wanna lose him. But it got to a point where he was just...way too forceful."

Blaine let out another deep sigh. "Basically, he dumped me just before school started, since I wouldn't put out that easily. I was completely heartbroken, but the worst part was that I was alone again. Except now, everyone knew I was gay. I was bullied even more. I was shoved into lockers, locked in closets-" He swallowed nervously. "Grayson refused to speak to me. No one knew he was gay besides myself."

Kurt nodded, knowing what a burden that was.

"One day I...I was in the restroom at school. I thought I was alone, and then outta nowhere, he just slammed his face against mine and started kissing me and..." Blaine shook his head, shuddering slightly. "I shoved him off, saying he'd missed his chance. He tried to kiss me again, but I just ran to the door. He gave me this...this look, before I ran out.

"A few days later, I was walking home from school. I took the path I always took, on a trail through the park. All of a sudden, Grayson and some of his jock friends appeared out of nowhere, and..." Blaine struggled to keep his expression strong, "they...beat the living crap out of me."

Kurt gasped.

"I-I'm fine now, I'm over the initial shock of it all," Blaine insisted, placing his hand on Kurt's shoulder when he noticed the boy's somber expression.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Blaine..." Kurt said, feeling guilty for bringing it up.

"Oh no," Blaine enveloped his boyfriend in a hug. "No, no, no. It's not your fault, don't be sorry."

"I know, but...how could he do that to you?"

Blaine just shrugged and shook his head. "It's...it's in the past now. I'm alright now. I'm safe, and I'm happy. And that's all there is to it, okay?"

Kurt nodded, looking up Blaine. "I love you, Blaine."

Blaine smiled. "I love you too," he whispered, moving forward to kiss his boyfriend. Even after what he'd just revealed, Kurt's gentle yet deep kisses still brought him a warm, tingly feeling that made everything seem alright.

"-But," Kurt started, breaking the kiss, "does that mean you're too...scared?"

Blaine furrowed his brow in confusion. "Too scared for what?"

Kurt toyed with the sheets, trying to find the right words. "Too scared for...what comes after kissing?"

Blaine kept his brow furrowed until he realized what Kurt was saying. "Oh...you mean..." He glanced down Kurt's crotch. Kurt nodded, looking slightly bashful.

Blaine sighed. "It's not that I'm scared, Kurt, I just...I really want this relationship to last. I love you, but we've only been going out for two weeks. I don't wanna push you into anything you don't wanna do."

Now Kurt was the one furrowing his brow. Blaine sighed again. "I-it's not that I don't want you, Kurt. You know I do, it's just...all that's happened, especially in the last month, between us and individually...I just really think we should take it slow. Like I said, I want this relationship to last, and once you start with this kind of thing, you're not gonna be able to stop." Blaine groaned in frustration and turned over so he faced the ceiling, knowing he sounded like a total idiot right now. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but-"

Kurt let himself lean over Blaine, interrupting him with a deep kiss.

"I know," Kurt said with a smile once they'd backed away. "I understand, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I want this to last too. I just want you to know that...you shouldn't be afraid. We can talk about it when the time comes, but...I'm fine with just kissing you for now, if that's what you want."

Blaine smiled in relief and reached to stroke Kurt's face. "How did I get so lucky?"

Kurt laughed. "I don't think _luck_ had as much to do with it as your natural charisma, plus the meddling powers of Wes, David, Andrew, Nick, Jeff, and those damn Weasleys."

Blaine laughed too. "They sure contributed to it."

"Where have they been anyways?" Kurt asked, referring to said meddling boys. "I know that Nick went to Austria...Jeff said he might visit family somewhere, but I haven't heard anything from anyone else. Do they all travel?"

Blaine nodded. "Wes grew up in Brooklyn, and visits family there. Actually, he and I met up and saw "Jersey Boys" together on Broadway on the 27th." Kurt gave a look of mock jealousy, Blaine laughing softly and rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, I think David went to visit his sister in California, and as for Greg and Matt...well, their family always goes on extravagant cruises and visits exotic countries. Actually, them going to Hawaii this year is kind of a step down, now that I think about it. And of course, as you know, Nick always goes to Austria to visit his mother's family, and Jeff has relatives in Pennsylvania."

Kurt nodded, eyebrows raised slightly. He'd never heard of such extravagant trips every year. Back in Lima, if someone went to Hawaii it was a BIG deal. It was strange getting used to such high standards here at Dalton.

"...Actually," Blaine started, "I think Nick got back from Austria yesterday...yeah, that's right, it's the 4th, right? Yeah, he got back yesterday."

Kurt nodded slowly.

"I know. Jeff's supposed to go on a date with him today." Kurt said. His eyebrows shot up as he realized exactly what he had told Blaine. "I mean, _hang out_. They're supposed to hang out."

Blaine gave Kurt one of those "I heard the slip, don't even try" looks.

"Oh God..." Kurt said, burying his face in his hands. "Please don't tell him I told you."

Blaine chuckled. "It's not like I wasn't wondering. Jeff's been acting pretty strange lately. But...what's the whole story?"

Kurt bit his lip hesitantly, before a sad smile grew on his face. He told Blaine the whole story about how Jeff wasn't sure about his feelings for Nick, and feels hopeless now that Paul has come into the picture. As he told the story, Blaine's smile started to melt off his face.

"...Wait, so...This means Jeff is gay?"

Kurt shrugged. "That's what makes it even more sad. You know how hard it is to come out, and Jeff has these feelings for Nick and he's not even completely sure he's _gay_...it's just Nick... Ahh, see? It's so confusing I can't even explain it!"

"Shhh," Blaine shushed Kurt when he noticed the boy starting to tense up. "We should definitely help, that's for sure. But don't worry yourself too much over it, huh?"

Kurt nodded, keeping his head down. "I just...I'm really worried for him."

"I know," Blaine smiled sadly, cupping Kurt's chin and nudging him to look Blaine in the face. "I know. You care so much, and I love that." Kurt returned the smile and Blaine leaned down to kiss him straight on the lips.

"But don't worry your head too much." Blaine said, stroking Kurt's back. "If it really becomes too much for him, we'll help. Okay?"

"Okay." Kurt said. He pulled Blaine in closer so he could nuzzle his face in the boy's chest. "I love you Blaine."

Blaine pressed a kiss into Kurt's hair. "I love you too, Kurt."

* * *

><p>Jeff sat by the window at The Lima Bean, staring out at the town. The sky was gray and it was raining hard, the raindrops hitting the pavement so hard, they seemed to be dancing. The streets were mostly deserted besides some bundled figured walking hastily, clutching their umbrellas tightly as they strided through the puddles.<p>

Many people might have said that the weather on this day was gloomy, depressing even. But Jeff always loved the rain. Everything was crisp and fresh, especially afterwards. Not to mention, how could it be gloomy when he was going to see Nick?

_Nick._ Just the thought of him made Jeff's mind reel. He hadn't seen Nick since that night when they kissed under the mistletoe, which just made the time away from Nick even harder for Jeff. Even though it wasn't supposed to mean anything, that brief, dry kiss they shared felt more right than anything Jeff's ever had with a girl. The only problem was...

_He knew it didn't mean the same to Nick._

Jeff sighed, burying his face in his hands.

What was he doing? He was just out for coffee with a friend, right? Maybe all these feelings are just...what, puberty? Maybe Jeff was just kinda confused or something.

"Jeff!"

Jeff's head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice. He turned around to see Nick standing by the entrance to the coffee shop, clad in a black trenchcoat and his Gryffindor-esque scarf. He was mostly dry, except for an array of raindrop scattering his person. His cheeks were red from the cold, but his eyes were bright as ever, and his smile...that ever-present, sure smile...

It took a minute for Jeff to snap out of his trance. He let the grin he'd been holding back finally sweep across his face.

"Nick."

Nick grinned back, walking over to Jeff to capture him in a tight hug. Jeff hugged back with equal strength, as he'd been wanting to for awhile now.

"How was your break?" Nick asked when they broke apart, walking towards the line at the cash register.

"It was good, I guess," Jeff shrugged. "We went to visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania. I mostly just hung out with my cousins, at the country club."

"Did your grandma make you stay for her book club again?" Nick teased.

"Ugh, don't remind me! It was horrible!" Jeff groaned. "She made me stay for tea too!"

Nick threw his head back and laughed. "Oh God, I do NOT envy you." He turned to the barista at the cash register. "Can I get medium chai latte and a tall mocha for my friend, both with extra whip, please?"

Jeff smiled down at the floor as Nick got his coffee order just right.

The woman nodded as she punched in some numbers on the register. "Of course. That'll be...$8.50."

Nick began to dig around in his wallet, but Jeff handed the lady a ten.

"Keep the change," Jeff smiled as she accepted the bill.

"Jeff," Nick started, as they walked over to the table to wait for thier drinks. "You didn't have to do that! I can pay for myself."

Jeff shrugged. "It's alright. I got lots of money for Christmas."

Nick opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut, shooting Jeff a smile instead. "Thanks."

_"Medium chai and a tall mocha, extra whip!"_

The boys got up to grab their coffee and sat back down at the table.

"So," Jeff started as he blew on his mocha. "How was Austria?"

Nick blushed as he stirred his chai. "It was good. I hung out with Paul a lot."

Oh right._ PAUL._

Jeff bit back a scowl. "Oh really? And how was that?"

Nick shrugged. "It was...really fun. He was sweet. Took me out to lunch a few times."

Jeff couldn't help but detect some hesitance in his voice. "Did you guys..." He swallowed nervously. "...kiss?"

Nick's smile widened. "Uh-huh...Oh my God Jeffy, he's so perfect!" He finally erupted. "He's sweet, and gentle, and so handsome, and-" Nick caught himself. "You don't mind if I, like, gush, do you?"

Jeff blinked. He did mind, a LOT. Hearing Nick talk about Paul with all this fondness made his heart get these weird shaky feelings. But...Nick just looked so happy talking about Paul, and...

"No," Jeff responded, pasting a fake smile on his face. "I don't mind."

Nick smiled. "Well, he's really fun. We hung out almost every day, and he took me out to dinner when we went into town this one time. And he can play piano, but he can't sing at _all_," Nick giggled. "So I sang while he played."

"Fun," Jeff said as he lifted his cup to his lips. He'd mostly lost his appetite for anything right now, but the cup helped hide the frown emerging on his face. Nick was an amazing singer. It surprised Jeff that he didn't try out for solos more often. He could just imagine Nick singing, with Paul playing the piano, just feasting the boy with his eyes...

"Yeah, it was pretty fun," Nick agreed, sipping his chai with gentle lips. "But..."

"But what?"

Nick let out a deep sigh. "It's just that...he lives all the way in Austria...you know? I mean, I really _really_ like him, but I just don't know if it would work out..."

Jeff furrowed his brow. "You mean a long distance relationship?"

"Exactly," Nick slumped, looking defeated. "He's so sweet, and so perfect, and he want's to continue it, but we'd never see each other and..." he groaned, leaning into his hands. "Maybe I'm being selfish..."

"No," Jeff said quickly, reaching across to rub the shoulder of his friend. "Don't think that. You're not being selfish. You just..." he took a deep breath. "You just wanna be loved. That's not selfish."

Nick looked up to Jeff. "You really think so?"

Jeff gave him a reassuring smile. "I do."

Nick smiled back as Jeff stood up. "Come on," he gestured to Nick. "You wanna go get ice cream?"

"You always know just what to say, don't you?" He beamed at Jeff.

Jeff shrugged. "I just try."

Suddenly, Nick launched himself at Jeff in one of those tight hugs, surprising him.

"Thanks Jeffy," Nick said. "For the coffee and the advice, and...just everything. You're my best friend. I love you."

Well, that was unexpected.

"N-no problem, Nick," Jeff blinked, returning the hug. "And I know, you're my best friend too. And...

"...Love you too."

* * *

><p><em>I love you.<em>

_I. Love. You._

Jeff hated that phrase right now.

Yes, it was usually a good thing to hear someone tell you they love you. You should feel happy about yourself. But when Nick said "I love you" to Jeff every day, he knew Nick didn't mean it. At least not in the way Jeff thought he would like him to.

Not to mention, Jeff didn't know what to feel when he said them back. Did he really love Nick? After so many years of being his best friend, it was hard to actually believe he possibly _loved_ him.

_I._

_Love._

_You._

Those three words...they were like a bittersweet melody to Jeff right now. Wishful thinking. Reaching for the moon when you're barely promised a star. Chasing pavements.

Jeff groaned in disgust. Why was this so frustrating? After all that happened before and during Winter Break, he thought that maybe coming back to school might distract him.

And yet here he was on the first Saturday after break, trying to focus on this dumb English homework, only to be distracted by the figure on the bed across from him.

_Stop staring, _Jeff told himself. _Focus on your homework. Stop looking at him, you have much better things to focus on. Much more important than Nick, with his brown hair that somehow fell right into place, without any effort. And..._

_Oh... that is so cute. Look, when he's focusing on a math problem, he'll tilt his head to the side for a second, and think. Then when he realizes he's got it right, his eyes will bright up and he'll smile as he writes the answer down._

_How can someone be that adorable? Especially with that smile, that laugh, those brown eyes..._

"...Jeff?" Nick asked.

_...That are looking right at me..._

Jeff broke out of his trance immediately, blinking rapidly. "Uh, sorry, I uh..."

Nick tilted his head to the side. "Do you need help?"

Before Jeff could answer, Nick had gotten up and walked over to Jeff's bed, sitting down next to him. "English, huh?" Nick smirked up at his best friend.

Jeff swallowed nervously before nodding. "Yeah. Mrs. Birman."

"Oh, she's a _pip_," Nick chuckled before reaching over Jeff to grab the book he was supposed to be reading. "_Tristan and Isolde_?" He read the cover, grinning. "I love this story! What part are you on?"

"Uh..." Jeff shrugged. "I dunno, she just gave it to us yesterday, I barely even finished the first chapter."

"Oh my God, it's _such_ a sad story," Nick said, putting down the book and scooting just _that much_ closer to Jeff. "So basically, Isolde of Ireland was the daughter of the King of Ireland. She was betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall, who sent his nephew, Tristan, to Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall."

Jeff nodded slowly, trying hard not to focus on Nick's lips as he recited the story with his musical voice.

"...The only problem is, Tristan and Isolde fell in love during the trip. She did marry King Mark, even though she still loved Tristan, who practically died when his uncle married Isolde..."

Nick's words drifted off, and Jeff was tuning in and out between his thoughts and the story.

"They were still in love, though..."

_He doesn't see how I feel..._

"...Learned of the affair..."

_And he probably never will..._

"...Banished from Cornwall..."

_My God, why can't he just see?_

"...Tried to move on..."

_...Why is it so hard to breathe?_

"...Just wasn't the same..."

_It's too hot in here..._

"...Became sick..."

_Stop...I can't..._

"...Black sails..."

_I just can't..._

"...Died soon after of a broken heart."

Jeff immediately leaped off his bed and stood shakily. _What is going on? Why is this happening?_

Nick stared at him with concerned eyes, still seated on the bed just inches from the space Jeff just vacated. "Jeff? ...What's wro-"

"-I-I need to..."

_Laugh._

_Cry._

_Scream._

_See a shrink._

He cleared his throat. "I just need to take a walk," he said, nodding awkwardly to himself. "Just gonna...take a break." He then turned towards the door.

"Can I come too-?"

"-No!" Jeff screamed, looking terrified. _Oh God, why did I just do that?_

"Jeff, you're scaring me!" Nick said, getting up and walking over to his best friend. "Do you need to talk?"

"N-no," Jeff insisted, flinching away when Nick tried to rest a hand on his forearm. "I just...I just wanna be alone, Nick, alright? I don't wanna talk to you right now."

Jeff knew he sounded harsh and it killed him, but he didn't know any other way to get Nick away. He needed to be alone.

Nick nodded slowly. "O-okay..." He said, bottom lip trembling.

Jeff gave a curt nod, turned and walked out the door as quickly as he could. He walked at a fast speed down the hall, loosening his tie as he went.

_What is going on? This is so freaky, what's happening to me?_

_I need to be alone. I need...to think._

Jeff stopped when he reached the Warbler's practice hall, curiously pushing open the solid oak doors. He was pleased to find that the room was empty, and proceeded to step inside, closing the doors behind him with a light creak.

Jeff swallowed, beginning to pace the room, only to get that dizzy feeling again. Breathing shakily, he made his way to the couch and threw himself on the cushions, trying his hardest to steady himself.

His head hurt. His stomach hurt. But most and strangest of all...

His _heart_ hurt.

Jeff breathed slowly, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. But he couldn't think straight. No matter how much he tried to think of what might be making him feel this way, all dizzy and hurting, he couldn't keep his mind off Nick. He still talked about that dumb Paul character all the time, fawning over him and saying how he's gonna try to visit.

Jeff slumped back into the softness of the couch. _Why did Nick have to like Paul, anyways? And why is it bothering me so much?_

Jeff blinked. He was shaking. He couldn't do this now. He needed to clear his mind. He needed to calm himself down somehow.

Scanning the room for something to divert his attention, he spotted a guitar leaning against the piano.

Jeff got up, making his way towards the instrument and eyeing it carefully. He plucked each of the strings before picking up the guitar and walking back over to the couch. It had been almost a year since he'd touched one of these, but Jeff taught himself guitar in the past. Nothing serious, just basic chords and strumming.

_Blaine always used music to calm himself down..._ Jeff thought, reminscing to times last year when Jeff and the other guys would be walking down the hall and hear Blaine playing guitar or piano, singing out his emotions.

Jeff sighed as he strummed a chord. "Here goes nothing..."

* * *

><p>"<em>Wes<em>, I'm not saying that The Mighty Mighty Bosstones isn't a great band, I just don't think that's a good song for Regionals," David sighed, following his friend up the hall.

"Mhm, sure David," Wes replied, arms crossed across his chest. "Then what would you suggest?"

Just as David opened his mouth to reply, there was a shout from just down the hall.

"Wes! David!"

The two turned to see Nick walking toward them, looking worried.

"Hey Nick...?" Wes started, exchanging a questioning look with David. "What's up?"

"Have you seen Jeff?" Nick asked quickly. "He just got up and he looked really mad or something and he just ran out and I don't know what I did but now I can't find him and I've searched all around the dorm building and the commons and I'm really worried." He said all this very quickly and in one breath, nervously biting his nails.

"Nick. Nick!" David smiled softly as he noticed the boy beginning to tense up. "Take a deep breath." David reached to pull Nick's hand away from his mouth, breaking his old habit. David gave him a solid look, and Nick nodded, taking a very deep breath.

"Now, what's wrong?" David said slowly once Nick had seemed a bit more calm.

"Jeff..." Nick took a breath. "We were each doing our homework and I went over to help him and I was telling him about the book he was reading, and..." He shook his head, as confused as Wes and David. "I don't even know...he just jumped up as if the bed was radioactive and looked really scared...then he walked away and told me not to follow him...Oh God, is he mad at me? What did I do?" Nick whimpered, reaching his hand up to his mouth only to have Wes bend it back down to his side.

"Nick, I'm sure it's fine. Jeff's probably just freaking out about school coming back, or he had an epiphany or something. We'll help you look for him though, okay?"

"Okay..." Nick replied, nodding slowly.

"Go double check the dormitories," David pointed in the direction Nick came in. "We're already headed towards the library."

"Okay...text me if you find him, alright?" Nick asked, starting in the opposite direction.

"We will," Wes called back, walking in the direction he and David were headed in. "Well, that was...weird."

"Yeah..." David nodded. "I wonder what's wrong?"

Wes just shrugged as they headed down the hall, peeking into every room they passed. "You know, he's been acting really strange for, like, the past month."

David considered this. "You're right...he really has..."

"And, like," Wes said as he pulled his head out of the empty classroom, "ever since Nick he got back from break, he's been acting even _stranger_, especially around Nick, you know?"

David gave his friend a puzzled look as he closed the door of the janitor's closet he'd just peeked into. "What are you going at?"

"Hey Wes! David!" Blaine calleed cheerily as he and Kurt approached the two, hands clasped and smiling brightly.

Kurt tilted his head in confusion. "David, why were you just in the janitor's closet-?"

"Have you seen Jeff?" Wes asked.

Kurt and Blaine both furrowed their brows, shaking their heads. "No, we just got back from Lima..." Kurt said. "Why, is something wrong?"

David shrugged, rolling his eyes. "They were studying and Jeff just got up and walked away, I guess. Apparently he was mad at Nick or something. Or at least that's what Nick thought, he seemed pretty confused too."

"Wanna help us look?" Wes asked. "It'd probably make it go faster, and David and I need to discuss Regionals."

Blaine looked at Kurt, who just nodded. "Yeah sure, we'll come with you."

Wes and David smiled, and the four headed down the hall.

"So tell us again..._what_ happened?" Blaine asked as he peeked his head into the bathroom, shouting Jeff's name.

Wes shrugged. "Nick just came up to us and said that he and Jeff were studying or something, and Jeff just jumped up all of a sudden and walked out, telling Nick not to follow."

"Nick looked really worried, too," David said. "It's probably just school getting to them, I'm sure everything's fine."

Kurt blinked and tilted his head. The other three looked on in confusion as Kurt seemed to be studying the air.

"...Kurt?" Blaine asked. "What are yo-"

"Shhh!" Kurt shushed his boyfriend. "Listen..."

The other Warblers looked confused before they heard it too.

"...What's that music?" Wes asked.

Kurt shook his head. "I don't know..."

"Is-is that _Jeff _singing?" David wondered.

"It's coming from the practice room," Blaine said, running down hall with the others trailing close behind.

Wes approached the room first, pushing the door open just the slightest bit.

"See?" He gestured to the others. "He's just singing."

"I didn't know Jeff could play guitar..." Blaine said, impressed.

"Whatever, I'll text Nick." Wes said, pulling out his phone. But before he could push any buttons, Kurt placed a hand over his phone.

"Wait...you guys, listen." He said.

"We know Kurt," Wes sighed. "Jeff's singing, big whoop!"

"SHHH!" Kurt shushed him. "Look...and _really_ listen."

The other boys piled around the opening in the door and listened closely. Jeff's face was lit up with emotion and his hands strummed the strings in just the right pattern. When the boys realized what song it was, their jaws dropped.

_**...But,**_

_**If I tell the world,**_

_**I'll never say enough,**_

_**Cause it was not said to you,**_

_**And thats exactly what I need to do,**_

_**If I'm in love with you,**_

Kurt, mouth hanging open like a codfish, exchanged a knowing glance with Blaine before turning back to the Warbler in the room, who was singing his heart out.

_**Should I give up,**_

_**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

_**Even if it leads nowhere...**_

_**Or would it be a waste?**_

_**Even If I knew my place, should I leave it there?**_

_**Should I give up,**_

_**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

_**Even if it leads nowhere...**_

David and Wes shared wide-eyed expressions. _Why is Jeff singing this song? Does this have to do with Nick?_

_**I'd build myself up,**_

_**And fly around in circles,**_

_**Wait then as my heart drops,**_

_**And my back begins to tingle.**_

_**Finally could this be it-**_

_**Should I give up?**_

"Oh my God..." Kurt whispered into Blaine's shoulder as he broke down in tears. Blaine rubbed his boyfriend's back as he too began to tear up.

_**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

Wes and David just stared as the blonde boy continued to pour his heart and soul into the song.

_**Even if it leads nowhere-**_

_**Or would it be a waste?**_

_**Even If I knew my place should I leave it there?**_

_**Should I give up,**_

_**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

_**Even if it leads nowhere...**_

_**Should I give up... **_Jeff shrugged. _**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

_**Even if it leads nowhere?**_

_**Oh, would it be a waste?**_

_**Even if I knew my place, should I leave it there?**_

_**Should I give up-**_

_**Or should I just keep on..**_

_**Chasing...**_

_**Pavements?**_

_**Should I just keep on...**_

_**Chasing...**_

_**Pavements?**_

_**Oh...**_

Wes dropped his phone, and it echoed throughout the hall. But Jeff didn't even flinch at the sound. He just continued singing, despite the teary eyed boys in the doorway. He was in his own litttle world, and nothing else mattered at the moment.

_**Should I give up,**_

_**Or should I just keep chasing pavements?**_

_**Even if it leads nowhere,**_

_**Or would it be a waste?**_

_**Even If I knew my place should I leave it there?**_

_**Should I give up-**_

Jeff paused for a moment as the tears finally began to sting his eyes.

_**...Or should I just keep chasing pavements...**_

Jeff sighed, thinking of the depth of the words he'd just sung.

_**Even if it leads nowhere...**_

As Jeff strummed the last chords, the sound reverberating through the empty hall, the other boys moved away from the door.

"Should..." Wes started. "Should we go talk to him?"

Kurt shook his head, sniffing. "No. No, if he stormed out on Nick like you guys said he did, and he's sitting in the hall singing Adele, he obviously wants to be alone."

The other boys nodded, and Blaine peeked back into the room. Jeff had his face buried in his hands and was muttering softly.

The boys jumped at a buzzing sound and Wes leaned down to pick up his phone from where he dropped it on the carpet, pressing the answer button.

"Hello?" He said into the phone as he walked away from the practice hall, the others following. "Oh, hey Nick. (...) Jeff?" Wes looked at the others, who all had sad expressions on their faces.

"Y-yeah, we found him. (...) The Warbler's practice hall. He was...singing. (...) Uh...I think he's just stressed. (...) I'm not sure, probably school. I-I'm sure he'll be fine though. (...) Yeah, sure thing. Talk to you later." He hung up the phone, turning to the others.

"Is...is Jeff...?" Wes inquired.

Kurt paused for a moment, looking to Blaine for confirmation. Blaine just nodded, keeping his eyes to the floor.

"Jeff..." Kurt started. "...He's confused. He thinks he might love Nick, but...Well, you know Jeff."

The others nodded, knowing how confused Jeff could get over the simplest things.

"Well...should we talk to him later?" David asked.

Blaine shook his head this time. "For the time being, let him come to us. He needs to figure this one out on his own."

Kurt nodded, smiling sadly. "I just wish we could help."

They turned to the sound of footsteps running down the hall. Nick appeared at the door, pausing before touching the handle hesitantly. He looked to Kurt, Blaine, David, and Wes, who pasted fake reassuring smiles on their faces. Nick smiled back before cautiously entering the room, calling Jeff softly.

Blaine sighed as Nick and Jeff talked softly. "We can. We'll be there for him."

The boys smiled and dismissed themselves, parting their seperate ways.

"Are you sure you're okay, Jeffy?" Nick asked Jeff from where they sat on the couch.

Jeff pasted a fake smile on his face. "Yeah. I told you, I just...I just hate those books Mrs. Birman makes us read."

Nick giggled. "Whatever you say. Come on, let's finish our homework, then we can go out to dinner! You need some stress relief," he said, grabbing Jeff's hand and leading him out of the room.

"Yeah..." Jeff swallowed, glancing longingly at their clasped hands. "Stress relief."

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><p><strong>I don't know about you guys, but I cried for Jeff ;_; Bby, why do I do this to you? <strong>

**Again, I'll try to update more often, but until then, thank you so much for the reviews and subscriptions! You don't have to, but some of you do, and that truly makes my heart flutter :') **

**And don't worry, it's not just gonna revolve around Niff now. And I know it seems super angsty, but remember, no relationship is perfect. Just bear with me. I assure you, I have a plan. **

**Thanks again!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello. It's been awhile. **

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a million years. I know that by writing something, you make the commitment to update and yada yada but...well, you've probably heard all the excuses so I'll just leave it at that. Good news though-it's summer! Though I do have lots of plans, I'll sure have more time to try to write. **

**I know this chapter feels a little short, but I felt this was a good place to cut it off. **

**Enjoy, review, and thank you.**

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><p>"<em>Kurt<em>-!"

Kurt whirled his head around to the shout-whisper of his name just to receive a wad of paper tossed right into his face, his expression immediately scrunching up in shock.

"Ow-!" Kurt spat quietly, hoping Mr. Penton didn't hear from the front of the study hall classroom. He looked back two desks to shoot an annoyed look at Wes, before picking up and opening the crumpled note.

_W: Look at Jeff and Nick._

"_Psst!_"

Kurt turned to the "psst," back and diagonally to his right. Blaine motioned with his hands to pass him the note when Kurt was done. Kurt turned back to Wes for confirmation, who nodded. Kurt rolled his eyes before glimpsing a few seats over to his right where Jeff and Nick sat in a row.

_Oh._

_That's what they meant by "Look at Jeff and Nick."_

While Nick was hard at work writing something, Jeff was quite obviously staring at the boy to his right, a dreamy look in his eyes and...was that perhaps a smile on his face?

Kurt turned around in his seat to look at Wes, showing a sad smile on his face. Wes nodded and Kurt turned back to the note, scribbling down a response:

_K: Omg. Poor Jeff. It's like Nick doesn't even notice the way Jeff looks at him._

Once he was done, Kurt reached back to hand off the note to Blaine. Blaine looked at the two boys, sharing a sad expression with Kurt, before he too jotted down a response:

_B: God, he stares at Nick the way I stare at you, Kurt. And the way Wes stares at Anderson Cooper. It's funny, though, because isn't it usually Nick to find the clues and notice details?_

Wes scoffed and continued his observations before passing the note on to Kurt again.

_W: Haha very cute, Blaine. And yes, that's what I was thinking too...it's ironic, isn't it, how Nick's almost always the first one to notice things, but when everyone else sees something, he's completely blind to it?_

_K: Aw, Blaine, that's so sweet! 3 And yes, Wes, it's completely true._

_B: Only for you, Kurt. ;) Yeah Wes._

_W: While you guys are so very cute together, to the point where I want to puke rainbows, I feel as if this is a slightly bigger problem right now. You guys are already together._

_K: True. Well, what do you suppose we do?_

_B: Sorry, Wes. It's just kinda hard to help it at times. Anyways, I suppose we talk to him. I mean, I know we said we'd give it time, but it's been nearly two weeks since we caught him singing "Chasing Pavements" in the choir hall. I honestly don't think he could do this alone, he's too scared._

_W: Good point, Blaine._

_K: But how do you suppose we talk to him?_

_B: We could ask him after class?_

_ W: Yes._

_K: But what if he runs away? I know if Nick, Matt, and Greg hadn't gotten me when I was stuck in class, I would have almost surely gotten embarrassed and run to my room._

_B: Oh, that's true._

_W: I could write him a note?_

K: What if he throws it away?

B: But if it's in writing, he'll have to at least read it.

_W: And then the thought will just be implanted in his brain._

_K: Oh. Well, that seems somewhat plausible. _

_B: Okay Wes, go ahead._

Wes glanced up at Mr. Penton's desk to make sure the stern, salt-and-pepper-haired man was still focused on whatever he was shuffling with on his desk, before tearing out another piece of notebook paper. But before Wes began writing, he came across a problem. Furrowing his brow, he reached over to tap Blaine on the shoulder.

"_Hey, Blaine_," he whispered.

Blaine turned his head back just slightly to acknowledge Wes.

"_What should I ask Jeff_?-"

"-Mr. Montgomery," came Mr. Penton's voice. "What are you bothering Mr. Anderson about now?"

Wes sat up straight. "N-nothing, sir. Just checking if I had the right math assignment down."

Mr. Penton cocked an eyebrow. "You're working on math right now?"

"Y-yes, sir," Wes badly lied.

The aging man stretched his neck to inspect Wes's alibi. "I don't see a calculator out," he stated.

Wes blinked. "O-oh! I-I guess that's why I was getting the answers wrong!" He laughed nervously as he dug into his bag. Kurt buried his face in his hands as Blaine stifled a laugh, near turning red.

Mr. Penton observed this skeptically, before heaving a sigh and turning back to grading papers.

Wes sighed in relief and tapped Blaine on the shoulder again.

'_What do I say?_' He mouthed clearly.

Blaine thought for a moment, before scribbling something down on a small corner of paper.

_B: Tell him we know. There's no escaping that._

Wes thought for a moment, then nodded before writing said message down. He folded it a few times before tossing it over a few heads onto Jeff's desk.

Well, at least, that was his intention. But unfortunately, the aerodynamics of a wad of paper are much different than that of the tennis balls Wes was so accustomed with. So the note flew right past Jeff...

And onto the desk to his right...

Nick's.

Kurt muffled a loud gasp with his hand. Blaine's mouth was gaping farther than he ever thought it could. They both turned to look at Wes, who just stared as Nick flinched as the note hit his desk, before curiously unfolding the note and reading its contents:

_We know you like Nick._

Nick's eyes grew wide, and Jeff looked over to read the note, almost turning pale as he read it. Nick furrowed his brow at Jeff, who just shrugged, and they both confusedly looked around for the owner of this note.

"_Shit_..." Kurt whispered to himself, letting his head fall into his crossed arms on his desk.

"Uh-" Wes began, in the most subtle shout-whisper he could do, "_-Nick! Nick!_"

Nick whirled around to address Wes. His brow furrowed in confusion, Nick pointed at the note and then at Wes, who nodded.

"_It was meant for Blaine_," Wes stated, causing Blaine and Kurt to turn to Wes, both shooting him a stare that was both confused and concerned.

Nick seemed even more confused now, and leaned over to whisper to Blaine around Jeff.

"_You like me?_" Nick asked in the smallest and most incredulous of whispers.

"_No-" _Blaine insisted, shaking his head.

"_-Yes_," Wes nodded simultaneously. Blaine whirled around and smacked Wes in the arm.

"-Ow!" Wes blurted as quietly as he could.

"Okay, _what_ is going on here?" Mr. Penton asked, standing up from his seat, crossing his arms against his chest.

Blaine snatched a pencil off Wes's desk. "Stole my pencil," he shrugged, smiling politely. Wes smiled as well, still rubbing his arm.

Mr. Penton looked as if he were about to lecture the boys again, when the phone on his desk rang. He rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath about foolish young boys as he answered the call. After a few moments, he hung up the phone and addressed the class.

"Boys, I'm needed at the office for something. I'll only be a few minutes at the most. Keep studying. And Wes-" Wes's head shot up just as Mr. Penton was at the door. "Don't cause too much more trouble. Our school's reputation is hanging by a thread as it is, thanks to the Fredericks. If I didn't know them any better, I'd think they were related to Cooper."

Everyone stifled a laugh at the mention of Blaine's older brother, the legend of Dalton. Baine just blushed and sunk down in hs seat a little.

Mr. Penton smiled. "Alright. I'm off." And with that, he was out the door.

Naturally, once the door had shut, the twenty or so students all broke into conversation with one another. Nick leaned across Jeff's desk to meet eyes with Kurt, Blaine, and Wes.

"What's going on?" Nick asked Wes, sounding almost scared. He turned to Blaine. "You _like_ me? You're dating Kurt!"

"No!" Blaine said, putting his hands up in a defensive matter. "No, it's not like that at all!"

"I-I was just kidding around, Nick," Wes insisted.

"Really?" Nick asked.

"Really," Wes smiled.

Nick furrowed his brow. "God you guys are crazy," he stated to the three of them.

Kurt's eyebrows near shot off his forehead. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah, it was all Wes," Blaine nodded.

Nick furrowed his brow again at Wes before shaking his head. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," he stated, before getting up to leave the classroom.

"Bye!" Wes called to his back. Nick glanced back at the smiling group of Wes, Blaine and Kurt, supressing the urge to roll his eyes before walking out the door. Once the door closed behind him, Wes and Blaine got up to slide in the desks next to Jeff, Kurt following close behind. Jeff looked up, startled at the boys now crowding around his desk.

"...What are you guys doing?" Jeff asked, looking up from whatever he was creating on his desk. He looked up to Blaine and gave an almost convincing smile. "What, you like _me _too?"

Before Blaine could open his mouth, Wes butted in. "Jeff, we know."

Jeff paused his eyebrows as they were about to shoot off his forehead, and instead cleared his throat, looking back down at his desk. "Know what?" He asked, eyes not lifting up from whatever he was folding his paper into.

Wes tilted his head to the side. "You know. You saw the note. You know it was meant for you."

Jeff just sighed, continuing to fold his paper this way and that. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Wes stood and snatched the paper off of Jeff's desk, emitting a "hey-!" from said boy's throat.

"Origami?" Wes asked as he sat himself down on the desk in front of Jeff.

"Give that back-" Jeff said, reaching across the desk to lunge at Wes.

"We just wanna talk, Jeff," Wes said with sincerity.

"Jeff," Blaine timidly added, "we know you like Nick."

Jeff whirled his head around to glare at the curly-haired traitor before him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jeff," Kurt interjected, placing a hand on Jeff's back, "it's okay."

Jeff just buried his head in his hands, sighing deeply. _He was trapped._

"Come on, why don't you just tell him?" Wes asked, tossing the half-finished paper crane up and down in the air.

Jeff froze. He couldn't tell Nick he liked him. That was...out of the question.

"If you don't tell him, I will," Wes teased.

Jeff shot his head up so fast he almost felt dizzy. "You wouldn't _dare_."

Wes just smiled. "Come on. Just tell him. What harm could come from it?"

_So much. Endless harm. _Jeff thought.

"I'll tell him if you don't," Wes threatened for the second time.

Wes cockily went on a rant about Jeff's feeling, but Jeff could barely stay tuned in. If Nick knew Jeff had feelings for him, it would instantly ruin their friendship. Or make things incredibly awkward, at the very least. Jeff wasn't the best at making friends. Nick was the only friend he could really talk to. _And if that was ruined...where would he turn? Where would Nick turn? He couldn't have that happen, it was too scary, and, oh god, why is it so hot in this classroom..._

"...Just as simple as any conversation," Wes carried on.

_Wes doesn't understand..._

"...'I like you, Nick'..."

_If that happened, I would be alone..._

"...all like, 'oh Jeffy! Never leave me again!'..."

_But he doesn't care..._

"...all it takes..."

_He doesn't know how much I love Nick..._

"...then it's basically complete! All you need..."

_To the point where I'd never admit how I feel..._

"...he's gonna come back soon..."

_Because if I lose him..._

"...tell him!..."

_There's no tomorrow..._

"...could do it..."

_But Wes doesn't care..._

"...no matter what, I..."

_He could ruin everything..._

"...because if you don't..."

_That ignorant, stuck up, son of a..._

"...I will."

Just as Wes ended his lengthy rant, Jeff sprung out of his desk to punch Wes straight in the jaw. Wes stumbled back, catching himself on a nearby desk as the paper crane went flying out of his grasp and into the air. Because, though Jeff didn't punch very hard, it still sent Wes into temporary shock.

Unfortunately, usually when someone gets punched in the face, their first instinct is to punch back. So after Wes found balance again, he lunged toward the blonde boy, socking him right in the gut.

Blaine's eyes grew wide at the violence ensued. "Wes-WES!" He yelled, trying to pull Wes off of the boy who looked as if he could be snapped in two. Kurt ran around the desk to grab ahold of Jeff by his blazer.

"JEFF! what's gotten into you?" Kurt yelled, feeling as if he were talking to a misbehaving dog.

The attention of the students in the room was now engulfed by this strange pairing in front of them, two friends whaling on each other endlessly.

"HEY!" Came a booming voice.

Blaine suddenly felt a tight grip on his shoulder, pulling him away from the ruckus. He stumbled backwards and it took him a second to realize it was none other than Mr. Penton.

Mr. Penton forced himself between the boys, fuming with anger as he pried the two away from each other by their lapels.

"Boys, BOYS! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS, A PUBLIC SCHOOL?"

"What the HELL MAN?" Wes snapped at Jeff as he cradled his cheek.

Jeff was just frozen, breathing through his mouth with a droll, sort of disbelieving look on his face.

"I've had ENOUGH! The four of you have earned a good detention!"

"Wait, the FOUR of us-" Blaine began, confusedly.

"Until I get to the bottom of this story, Mr. Anderson, you and Mr. Hummel here looked very well involved." Mr. Penton looked between Wes and Jeff, both of which were breathing heavily, and gave each of them a look of disappointment. "The four of you, follow me. We're taking a nice trip to the headmaster's office."

Mr. Penton marched out of the classroom dragging Jeff and Wes each by the collar, with Kurt and Blaine following behind.

_Why...why did I do that?_ Jeff thought to himself as he walked to the door, catching the eyes of twenty or so gaping students. He was just about to pass through the door, when he caught the sparkling eyes of a certain best friend of his, eyes wide as saucers and near shaking with fear.

"_Jeff..._" Nick whispered quietly as his best friend passed. Nick had just seen Jeff totally slug out Wes. What had gotten into sweet, quiet, innocent Jeff?

Jeff really wished he could come up with an excuse for himself, because the disappoint in Nick's eyes tore Jeff's heart right in two.

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><p>"<em>God this sucks<em>," Wes whispered to the group as he wrung out his sponge into the bucket of water at his feet.

"_At least Penton's not as bad as Mrs. Bowen," _Blaine whispered back, standing on his tiptoes to wipe the top of the blackboard. "_She'd have us sorting her office for detention."_

"_I'd rather be sorting papers and pens than washing chalkboards," _Wes just grumbled back. _"Look at this!" _He pointed to a spot on his button-up. _"I'm getting filthy!"_

"_Are you _positive_ you're not gay?" _Kurt asked, rolling his eyes.

"_Oh, _come ON_-"_

"Mr. Montgomery, there is NO talking in detention." Mr. Penton scolded, looking up from his papers.

"Yes, sorry Sir," Wes replied. The second Mr. Penton turned away, Wes stuck his tongue out at the old professor, making Kurt giggle a little.

"_Poor Wes," _Kurt sighed, _"Has to spend his time in detention, when he could be using it watching Mamma Mia for the five hundredth time by himself."_

Wes was about to fling water from his sponge on Kurt, but Blaine gave him a cautious, wide-eyed, "you know what will happen to you if you do that, think about your choices here," look, to which Wes just sighed, lowering his sponge.

"_I wouldn't have to be here if it weren't for a certain someone in this room. And I'm not talking about the dinosaur sitting over yonder," _Wes mumbled, not looking up from the area he was cleaning.

Blaine and Kurt looked out of the corners of their eyes at each other, in empathy for Jeff. They glanced over to the blonde boy whose head hung like a sad puppy, as he mindlessly scrubbed the same area of the bored in circles over and over again.

Other than a few whispers, the boys kept to themselves, wiping away the remains of an Ancient History lesson with sponges and soapy water. Each of the two black chalkboards extended to almost the entire length of the wall, and were almost just as high. So the task of "cleaning the chalkboards" had some weight to it.

Before long, Mr. Penton cleared his throat, the sudden loudness startling the boys in the room. The Professor then proceeded to stand, take a long yawn, and made his way to the door, shooting the boys a stern look before walking out of the room. Once the door clicked behind him, Wes turned to Jeff, and erupted.

"What the fuck was that?" He near-shouted to the blonde boy, sponge almost flying out of his hand as he flung his arms out.

"Wes, take it easy on him-" Blaine attempted to calm the boy.

"-No!" Wes interjected. "Did you not see what happened back there? Jeff-fucking-Sterling punched me in the face, and I'd like to know why!" He turned to Jeff, who now looked in shame, but still seemed as if to hold some sort of frustration. "Jeff, what is going on with you? That was not you man, I don't know what the hell it was, but it wasn't you. So right now, you're gonna man up and tell me what the hell is going on with you, because to be quite frank, IT'S SCARING ME," he finished, staring Jeff down the whole time.

It gave him a few moments of opening his mouth as if to say something, but then closing it a few times. Then finally, Jeff raised his head and asked, "…What the hell were you guys doing back there?"

The three boys looked surprised, and then looked at each other for an answer.

"Um…well," Blaine attempted, "we were talking about you and how you like Nick, and we were just trying to help you-"

Jeff laughed bitterly. "Trying to help a lost cause?" He paused for a moment, gathering everyone's reactions. "Do you know how close you got with that note? Or with how loudly you were blabbering on about how I like him? He could have found out!"

"Well…" Kurt started. "Would that really be a…bad thing?"

Jeff gaped at Kurt incredulously. "Yes! Of course it would be!"

"Why, huh?" Wes asked, not giving up the tension he'd created earlier. "Why would it be so bad, especially to the point that you had to punch me in the face? That's not like you, man."

"I'm sorry!" Jeff insisted. "I really am, and I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, you didn't _mean_ to?" Wes continued. "Why would you ever have the need to do it? Or to even react like that? What would be so bad about Nick finding out you like him, that you'd have to freak out like a MANIAC?-"

"-LOSING HIM!"

If you asked any of the three boys what happened in that moment, they'd each say their hearts stopped for a split second when those words left Jeff's lips. The utter longing and true devotion the came with them, especially at the volume, made all the boys feel fear of losing Nick. For a second.

Jeff took a shaky breath, running his clean hand through his hair. "Losing him. I can't…" Jeff shook his head, finding difficulty with words at the moment. He turned his head to look out the window at the pouring rain.

Jeff turned back to the boys, taking another deep breath. "Kurt, Blaine, you both had a clue the other liked you when you decided to…you know. Flirt. Whatever." Jeff swallowed. "Do you know what Nick means to me? He's my best friend, and he's so great and so sweet, and do you know what would happen if I lost that? If I scared him away? You can't honestly say 'he totally likes you Jeffy!' Because he doesn't. Blaine and Kurt, you guys flirted heavily with each other. Nick…he's like that with everyone. It's his norm."

Jeff sighed again, sniffling a little. "The point is, Nick is my…friend. My best friend. And I'm his. And…I am so grateful for that." Jeff pasted on a smile for everyone. "Really. That's all I need." He turned back to the board, scrubbing the area he'd been wiping circles around for the past ten minutes.

"But is that all you _want_?"

Jeff froze for a moment at the sound of Kurt's knowing voice.

Kurt looked to Blaine and Wes, before he reached out a hand to touch Jeff's shoulder. "Jeff…maybe if you try-"

"Try what?" Jeff asked. "Try to make him stop liking that guy in Austria? Try to make him love me the way I love him?"

Kurt furrowed his brow. "_Love-?_"

"-I can't do that, Kurt!" Jeff ducked the subject Kurt was obviously about to bring up. Jeff was close to tears. "Kurt, don't you think I know Nick by now? He'd run away, he'd get scared and stressed out and leave me, and I can't have him leave me, Kurt, I need him in my life whether he loves me or not!"

Kurt blinked in shock at the boy before him. Wes and Blaine stood there with their mouths gaping open.

"I c-can't _lose him_…" Jeff choked out, tears now trickling down his face. "I just can't. I don't know what I'll do if I scare him off. That's why. What's why I was so…intense. I was-I am so scared...And I'm sorry, I'm so, _so sorry…"_ Jeff managed out, before sitting on the floor to pull his knees into his chest and bury his head in his knees, his whole body now shaking with tiny sobs.

Wes was the first to make it over to Jeff, crouching down to Jeff's level wrapping his arms around his friend. "It's okay, Jeff. I'm okay, it's really okay. I'm…I'm sorry too…"

Kurt and Blaine followed not too far behind, shushing and comforting the boy as he shook with quiet sobs that seemed to echo through the empty classroom.

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><p><strong>Gah. I haven't written in like a month okay.<strong>


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